ISU Softball Recruit Kimberly Pierce, South Elgin (IL)

[SycamoreSage]

Recent Internet posts:

May 10, 2009:

South Elgin 12, Willowbrook 0: Kimberly Pierce cracked four hits and drove in five runs to lead South Elgin against Willowbrook. She also scored three runs, while Alyssa Krause and Courtney Bosteder each drove in a pair of runs. Rebecca French struck out six and earned the win in three innings of work

May 4, 2009:

From the start of the year, other coaches in the conference knew it would come down to the last day," said South Elgin coach Jason Schaal. "We didn't know it would be this tight with so many good teams, but every team is playing good softball. There are five or six strong teams not even in the race for conference."

South Elgin has been putting it together at the right time. The Storm is a winner of five in a row and has one of the top offenses in the league. Kimberly Pierce is batting an astounding .605 to lead the UEC. Not far behind is Lauren Vitiello at .500. However, the offensive emergence from Courtney Bosteder has helped Vitiello and Pierce get their pitches. Batting behind those two, Bosteder is hitting .423 and leads the team with 20 RBIs.

"Everyone knew about Kim and Lauren and would pitch around them to get to Courtney," Schaal said. "Offensively, she's doing a great job and it makes the middle of our lineup that much stronger."

[SycEm]

More on Pierce - I like how these articles always mention Indiana State:

http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=292545&src=290


Seniors Kim Pierce, who is quickly proving to be one the top offensive and defensive players in the state, ignited the Storm Saturday morning, and seniors Cary Thereon and Courtney Bosteder came through in the clutch as South Elgin (14-8 overall) downed St. Charles East (17-6-1) by a 5-4 score in St. Charles.

The win drops the Saints, now 10-2 in the UEC, into a first-place tie in the loss column with St. Charles North (9-2). South Elgin, Neuqua and Lake Park are very much in the hunt with 3 conference losses each.

"Boy, that'll mess things up a little, won't it," smiled South Elgin coach Jason Schaal after Thereon got SCE's Kayla Brooks to pop out to end Saturday's game with the tying run at second base and the winning run at first.

"We're still in this championship run. If we lose today we fall three games behind in the loss column. Championships is what we're shooting for and the conference championship is within our reach."

The Storm got off the bus ready to play. Kaitlyn Stonecipher drew a walk from starting pitcher Katie Stengler to lead off the game and after a groundout, Pierce took an 0-2 pitch on the outer half of the plate and launched it into the teeth of the strong wind and over the right field fence. It was Pierce's fifth homer of the season and she's now hitting .625.

"I don't think about the wind," said the Indiana State recruit. "If it's hit hard enough it will go. It seemed like the wind stopped right when I hit the ball."

Pierce didn't need any wind to come up with a picture-perfect defensive play in the third inning that helped keep the Saints from having a big inning. With her team trailing 4-3, St. Charles East's Jenny Niemiec led off the inning with a double. Then on Steph Roan's single up the middle, Saints coach Kelly Barnett waved Niemiec home. But Pierce scooped the softball off the ground and fired a perfect strike to catcher Rae Bosteder, who applied the tag on a sliding Niemiec.

"That felt good," Pierce said. "Rae made a nice play on the tag. That play is all mental. It's about throwing it to the right spot."

[SycEm]

Pierce named "captain" of her all area team by the local paper.
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=298362

Very impressive stats:
BA = .553
HomeRuns = 7
RBI = 43
Doubles = 15
OB % = .607
Slugging % = .922
Runs = 46
Total Bases = 95

[SycEm]

Pierce makes the 10 member All State team (all classes) from the Chicago Tribune (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-12-prep-soft-1stjun12,0,3780449.htmlstory)

There is also a poll to pick the "player of the year" (http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-12-prep-softjun12,0,4005791.story) from amongst those 10, and Pierce was in 2nd place when I last looked.

[sycamorebacker]

That's impressive. Sara Evans has her New Pal team still in the final 4.

[SycamoreSage]

Note: It looks like Pierce has the best batting average of all those listed in the story accompanying the Player of the Year ballot.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-12-prep-softjun12,0,4005791.story

[SycEm]

Pierce named the 2009 Player of the Year by the Suburban Courier News (http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/sports/1648942,3_2_EL02_PLAYER_S1-090702.article) - a repeat award, as she also won the 2008 award (http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/sports/highschools/1007877,3_2_EL15_B1PLAYER_S1.article)

Sounds like she excelled in a very difficult conference - hope it continues for the Sycamores!

[SycamoreSage]

In addition to awards and accolades previously announced, Pierce was named to the first team Chicago Sun-Times All Area Softball team:

http://yourseason.suntimes.com/softball/1621355,061309-softball-allarea.article

P: Devin Miller, Sr., Loyola: The Sun-Times Player of the Year was the most dominant pitcher in the area, going 26-2 with a 0.67 ERA, 18 shutouts and 350 strikeouts in 189 innings. She also had two home runs and 18 RBI. Signed with UIC.

P: Kirsten Verdun, Jr., Coal City: The talented left-hander led the Coalers to a third-place finish in Class 2A while going 31-3 with a 0.32 ERA and 447 strikeouts in 240 innings. She also hit .528 with 16 doubles, two homers, 39 runs and 42 RBI. Committed to DePaul.

P: Emily Norton, So., Oak Forest: Norton showed the poise and ability of an upperclassman while leading the Bengals to their first state tournament berth. She went 27-3 with 0.44 ERA and 319 strikeouts in 189 innings. She batted .494 with 44 hits, nine doubles, one triple, 16 runs and 20 RBI.

C: Teresa Aguilar, Sr., Loyola: Provided the offensive punch for the top-ranked Ramblers, hitting .467 with 12 doubles, one triple, one home run, 31 runs and 32 RBI. Signed with UIC.

1B: Molly Spence, Sr., New Trier: “Molly is one of the best hitters I’ve ever seen and certainly the best I have ever coached,” Trevians coach John Cadwell said. Spence hit .371 with nine doubles, seven triples, five home runs and 30 runs and had a slugging percentage of .733. Signed with Wisconsin.

2B: Colleen Shandley, So., Barrington: One of the most consistent hitters in the area, Shandley hit safely in 31 of Barrington’s 37 games and had an on-base percentage of .474. She led the Fillies with a .446 average, 58 hits and 34 runs.

SS: Faith Johnson, So., Stagg: One of the most gifted defensive shortstops in the state, Johnson took away many opponents’ hits with her arm and glove this season. She also batted .440 with 24 runs, 27 RBI and 15 doubles.

3B: Courtney Makowski, Sr., Benet: A defensive wall at third, Makowski frustrated runners throughout her career with her glove and arm. She committed only two errors in 139 chances. She also hit .342 with 10 doubles, one home run, 20 runs and 27 RBI. Signed with Lewis.

OF: Jayme Hefler, Sr., Glenbard West: One conference coach described Hefler as a pain in his neck because she was impossible to get out and seemed to get to everything in the outfield. She hit .540 with 67 hits, three doubles, 33 runs and 27 stolen bases. Signed with Lewis.

OF: Kimberly Pierce, Sr., South Elgin: No one was a tougher out than Pierce this season. She hit .553 with 15 doubles, seven home runs, 46 runs and 43 RBI. Signed with Indiana State.

OF: Morgan Biel, Jr., Sandburg: The definition of clutch, Biel seemed to come up with every big run for Sandburg. She scored the lone run in both of the Eagles’ sectional wins, over Marist in the semifinals and Lincoln-Way East in the championship. She hit .366 with 10 extra-base hits and 15 RBI. Also was one of the area’s top defensive center fielders.

UTIL: Amanda Sheppard, Sr., Oak Forest: Provided the offensive pop for the Class 3A state-bound Bengals. She led Oak Forest with 18 doubles, two triples, six home runs, 36 runs and 40 RBI. She also hit .423. Signed with Northern Illinois.