Illinois Valley Times

The Lady Crusaders have no captains — and very little competition.

It is not like the Marquette softball team has no qualified candidates, but head coach David Tkach wants to emphasize the team concept this season.

“They're all valuable in their own way, so that's the way it is,” he told the Illinois Valley Times.

It appears to be working, as the Lady Crusaders started the season 10-2 and were ranked No. 2 in Class 1A in the April 10 poll by the Illinois Coaches Association. Marquette trailed only Trico.

Coming into the season, Tkach thought the Lady Crusaders would be good for four to five runs a game. Their actual production has nearly doubled that estimate. 

Through the first 11 games, according to Tkach, Marquette scored 83 runs — an average of better than 7.5 runs per contest. The team had a .322 team batting average in that span, with a .392 on-base percentage and a .468 slugging percentage.

Tkach said the batting average was roughly the same last season for the team that went to the regional final.

Marquette also registered a team earned-run average of 2.29 and a team walks and hits per innings pitched of 1.19 in the 11-game span.

The team has been strong enough to make its goal of going to state appear realistic. The focus so far has been on the little things, Tkach said, and to “let the game come to them” and not force things. 

“I think they're buying into that theology that we're giving them,” he said.

The Lady Crusaders have had to deal with filling some key spots from last year's squad. Graduation claimed All-Tri-County Conference first team member Madelyn Thompson as well as second team selections Eleanor McCallum and Allie Snook, and honorable mention Katherine Dyche. 

Also, senior Maddie Dougherty, who made the first team last season, tore a knee ligament during basketball season and has been unavailable for softball so far. Tkach said she is working to come back near the end of this season.

However, the Lady Crusaders have two other players back this season who earned all-conference honors in 2016: Senior Cate Thompson was on the first team and sophomore Makenna Tkach, the coach's daughter, was on the second team. Tkach said the players who have been filling the vacated spots have stepped up.

“It's good to see them advance from when we seen them from game one to now,” he said. “We're gelling pretty good together.”

A key for the team heading into the postseason will be executing plays and having self-confidence, Tkach said. 

“They've got to rely on their position and not rely on somebody else to make the plays,” he said.