Glen Ellyn Phillies Take on Top Competition at DeMarini Showcase

One of Sarah O’Malley-Fisher’s main objectives as coach of the Glen Ellyn Phillies Blue Elite team is to help her players learn the game of softball while competing at a high level.

No doubt, Blue Elite team members took a mid-term exam, of sorts, playing in last weekend’s DeMarini Invitational Showcase held at Ackerman Park.

The Phillies were one of 40 teams representing 17 states that participated in the second annual event. Several of those teams can be considered among the top travel softball clubs in the country for their particular age groups.

Each one of Ackerman Park’s eight fields was bustling with action, starting at 8 a.m. and continuing throughout the day. The tournament portion of the Showcase went four days. It concluded last Sunday.

competed in Pool C, one of the toughest pools at the Showcase. That pool included the Texas Glory Gold team and the Beverly (Ill.) Bandits-Team Tyrrell squad—the eventual champion and runner-up, respectively.

“This is one of the best tournaments in our area,” said O’Malley-Fisher, the Phillies’ second-year coach who is a University of Illinois-Chicago Hall of Fame inductee. “For us to be able to play in it, I think it’s a great thing for our players, for our coaching staff, and for our program it’s fantastic.

“I’d like to see if we can continue to do this year in and year out because it’s important for us to have these experiences. I think it’s great competition for our kids to continue to step up and improve themselves each and every day. I wouldn’t trade it for the world at this point in time. I think it’s a great experience.”

The Phillies’ roster this summer consists of players who are either currently playing on high school teams from around the area, or graduated from those high schools in June. Wheaton North, Glenbard West, Glenbard East, West Chicago, Lincoln-Way West, Schaumburg and Lyons Township are among the schools represented on the 2011 team.

Mo Denhof, an outfielder with the Falcons and a recent Wheaton North grad, also sees action in the outfield for the Phillies. She’s in her third year with the team.

“I really like this team a lot,” Denhof said. “The Phillies program is great. We’re working on getting our mechanics down and getting everybody just working together as a team, coming out every game with a strong mindset that we’re going to win, and we can do anything we need to to win.”

Playing in the DeMarini Showcase has been a great experience for Denhof, as well.

“It’s really been awesome because you get to play the best competition around,” she said. “It’s great to get that experience and see how other teams are playing together.”

Denhof will attend Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., this fall and try to walk on to the GVSU softball team. The Lakers were 41-16 last spring; they advanced to the NCAA Division II Midwest Super Regional—one step away from the Division II softball World Series.

“I’ve talked to the coach (Doug Woods) and he’s got two (roster) spots open,” Denhof said. “He’s going to do a walk-on type thing and he’s going to let us know (which walk-on candidates make the team). I’m definitely interested in playing there.”

One member of the Phillies who has already secured a spot on a college roster next spring is Taylor Steinhilber. Steinhilber is one of several current and former Glenbard West players on the Blue Elite squad. 

Steinhilber, the Hilltoppers’ ace pitcher last spring—one of her 11 victories on the mound was a no-hitter—will likely be a first baseman for Carroll University, a Division III school located in Waukesha, Wis. The Pioneers play in the Midwest Conference and are coming off a 13-20 record in 2011.

“Right now I think I’m going to be a first baseman,” she said. “I think it just depends on who else is going out (for the team) and how I perform up there.”

Playing softball, though, isn’t the predominant reason Steinhilber wanted to attend Carroll. Academics is. Steinhilber will be enrolling in the school’s physical therapy program.

“I’m really excited, and I’m ready to go there and work hard,” she said. “I’ve got a great coach (Amy Gradecki) and I’m ready to make her proud.”

But Steinhilber and Denhof will continue playing for the Phillies before they head off to college. The Phillies recently qualified for the Amateur Softball Association 18-U Class A Northern National Championships, to be held Aug. 4-7 in Kansas City.

“We’ve made great progress each and every week,” O’Malley-Fisher said. “Maybe not necessarily record-wise, but playing-wise we’ve made great progress.

“Every week, their level of play intensifies a little bit—their play, their thought process, learning the game. They’re learning to play the game while they’re playing so it’s a really, really hard thing to do. But each and every weekend, we learn something new and we get a little better. And that’s really the outcome I want is for us to get a little better each weekend.”