Since August, the 14u Illinois Stars softball team has posted an incredible 65-21 overall record and has competed against some of the best softball teams across the country.
Consisting of 11 local student-athletes — Mya Beard and Grace Cavanaugh, of Reed-Custer; Bella Pusateri, Ellie Haggard and Libby Spaulding, of Bradley-Bourbonnais; Alyssa Dralle, Sydney Sosnowski and Macy Iwanus, of Manteno; Ashley Veltman, of Peotone; Mary Kanak, of Herscher; and Abby Gagliardo, of Coal City — the Stars have shown they are among the nation’s best by earning a bid to the 2021 14u Premier Girls Fastpitch National Championships from Aug. 1-8 at nine sport complexes in Huntington Beach, Calif.
“This was a goal that we set from Day 1, from our first practice last August,” 14u Illinois Stars coach Tony Pusateri said. “This was our goal, to qualify for PGF Nationals, and so it’s really cool we were able to execute our game plan.”
The squad got its chance to qualify for the prestigious tournament by securing an undefeated record (4-0) during bracket play in the PGF Premier National Qualifier tournament in Crown Point, Ind., in June.
“We are playing in the PGF Premier Division, which is the highest level of any travel softball tournament that there is,” Pusateri said. “We are truly going to be seeing the best teams from around the country.”
The Stars will have a smaller roster than most — a majority of the 80 or so teams have 15 to 23 girls — the team likely will be at a disadvantage. However, don’t tell that to the 11-girl roster that’s coming off a 9-3 overall performance in Kansas City last weekend, when they finished in fifth place in the USA Elite Select World Fastpitch Championship tournament.
“I think we will be fine with just 11 girls,” Haggard said. “We’ve done it all season with 11 girls, and at one point, we had to do it with 10 when one of our players got injured. So, we are all used to it.
“It’s going to be weird seeing other teams with 23 players, but I think we will do well.”
“I think taking fifth place in Kansas City helped our confidence a lot,” Dralle said. “We played a lot of good teams and did well, and so I think it will only help us heading to California.”
Two key components to the Stars’ successes this season have come from Dralle’s strong presence on the mound and Haggard’s discipline at the plate. So far this season, Dralle has posted a 22-7 record on the bump with a 2.89 earned run average to go along with 107 strikeouts in a team-high 169 innings pitched, and Haggard leads the team with the sticks, totaling a team-high in batting average (.475), home runs (18), triples (15) and RBIs (100).
“We are a really well-balanced team, to be honest,” Pusateri said. “We have two really strong pitchers in Spalding and Dralle, and our lineup has a good balance of power and speed. I think our trademark is our defense because we are really strong across the diamond defensively, and so we take away a lot of hits.”
As hopeful as the 14u Stars are to come away as tournament champions, Coach Pusateri said he wants his team to take it one game at a time so they don’t succumb to the pressure of playing in front of thousands of fans and numerous college coaches and scouts who presumably will be in attendance.
“Not to be cliche, but all we can do is take it one game at a time,” Pusateri said. “I think if we start to think too big, then the pressure will start to build and get to us a bit.”