Senior-powered New Trier collects first playoff win in decade, comes up short in regional finale

Power in the circle and in the batter’s box typically takes a team a long way. When paired together, the power combination can turn a game on a dime.

That proved to be the case Saturday afternoon as dual threat powered Stevenson to a 4-1 win against New Trier in the regional final at Duke Childs Field.

New Trier jumped out to an early 1-0 lead but it was a third-inning Patriots’ barrage that swung the contest the other way.

Stevenson’s star outfielder Alyssa Shimanski, a University of Illinois-Chicago commit, smacked a solo home run to the left-center power alley. The Patriots then immediately followed that with a triple and a run-scoring single to turn the deficit into a 2-1 advantage. All that damage came with two outs in the inning.

Shimanski had another big swing left in her bat when she came to the plate in the fifth. She belted her second long ball of the game to put the Patriots in front 3-1. Two batters later, Stevenson’s Hannah Baker smacked a solo shot of her own.

Stevenson had seven hits on the day; four of them were extra-base knocks.

“We knew what we were going up against and when it came down to it, they beat us on home runs today,” New Trier head coach Rose Wysocki said. “Without that, it’s a 1-1 game and who knows what happens. They have a lot of power and they’re a great team. But we played really well against them today.”

The Trevs’ run came in the second inning with a little two-out damage of their own.

Junior Audrey Limacher singled to right field to drive in Clara Wortel, who led off the inning with a triple, to put the Trevs on the board.

Stevenson’s ace right-hander Ava Potempa, who will continue her softball career at Mclennan College in Texas, limited the damage from there. After New Trier’s second-inning score, Potempa allowed just four Trevians (three hits, one walk) to reach base the rest of the way.

Toeing the rubber for New Trier was senior Addy Varca, who held a powerful Patriots’ lineup that has averaged nearly eight runs per game this season, in check throughout the game.

Varca struck out eight and at one point early on punched out five straight Stevenson batters.

“She did wonderful,” Wysocki said of Varca .” She came out, the ball was spinning and she did what we asked her to do. They have great hitters. Even the home runs they hit, they weren’t off of pitches down the middle of the plate or anything like that. They were good pitches and they just hit them out. It’s really hard to defend against that.”

New Trier faced Stevenson earlier this year to a much more lopsided 10-0 defeat. The tight game is evidence of how the Trevs continued to improve as the season went on.

“I’m so proud of them,” Wysocki said. “We knew that first game we played against them that we weren’t operating at full capacity … so we knew that’s what today wasn’t going to look like.

“… I think we surprised them, but we didn’t surprise ourselves. We were anticipating that it was going to be a good game, that it was going to be a close game, and that’s exactly what we got.”

Senior Harper Glinn, a four-year starter and one of the team’s leaders, said the Trevians grew together as a team over the season and really developed their offense throughout the year. And the fight they showed Saturday was another example of that strong culture.

“I’m really proud of how everyone through each at-bat persisted pitch after pitch, never getting down on ourselves until the very last one was thrown,” she said.

‘New levels’

The loss brings an end to what was another strong season for New Trier softball.

The Trevians finished second in the Central Suburban League South this year, one year after winning the league for the first time in a decade.

The achievements stacked up this season. New Trier amassed at least 16 wins (18 this year, 16 in 2025) for the second straight campaign (first time since 2014-’15); recorded its best winning percentage (18-7, 0.72) since 2014; and won the program’s first regional playoff game in a decade.

The Trevians will graduate a group of eight seniors who spearheaded the program’s renaissance over the past several seasons.

It’s a group whose impact will be felt on the program for many years to come.

“This senior class, they have taken this program to new levels,” Wysocki said. “We won the conference with them, won our first regional game with them in 10 years and we’ve done a lot of things to rebuild this program and these kids were the heart and soul of that.”

Wysocki added that the Trevians’ performance on Saturday was likely the best played regional game she’s been a part of in her time at New Trier.

“That’s driven by them and on top of that, they’re really great kids who’ve set the culture for this program and that’s the bigger thing that they’re leaving behind,” she said.

Being part of the program’s turnaround has been “an amazing experience,” said Glinn, who will be continuing her softball career along with her teammate IIana Styles at Colby College.

“I’ve learned so much as part of this program,” Glinn said. “The coaching staff has been really amazing. I had the chance to play alongside my sister (Kennedy Glinn) for three years, so that was just a really great experience and I think overall just the development of the team has been really amazing to see. … It’s just great to see how we’ve worked together.

“I’ve learned a lot over these last four years that I’m going to be taking into college from an athletic standpoint and as a person.”

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