Chicago Public League Sports Blog

Lane Tech wins 16-inch softball title

George Stavrakas, head coach of Lane Tech's uber-successful 16-inch softball team and the girls softball team.

Lane capped off an undefeated season after defeating Washington 12-3 at UIC. To get there Lane beat Taft 11-1 in the semi-finals. I was expecting Taft to play much better. Washington advanced to the finals after beating Corliss 7-2.

16-inch softball has been a CPS sport since 1999. In 13 seasons Lane Tech has won 9 titles in those 13 years. Lane has an undefeated record for the past two seasons.

Spotlight Earl Schultz - Payton College Prep

Earl Shultz (so-left) and Neilski at a North Avenue Beach Volleyball Tournament. I got a chance to meet with rising 3 sport star(16-inch softball, basketball, volleyball) Earl Schultz from Walter Payton College Prep. At 6-3, athletic and with a calm and cool demeanor, I got the impression that Earl is one of those guys that every coach would love to have on his team.

Profile - 6-3, 185lbs
School - Walter Payton
Class - Sophomore (Class of 2014)
Elementary School - Hawthorne Scholastic Academy (close to Addison and Racine, not too far from Lane Tech)
Sports- varsity 16-inch softball, varsity basketball, varsity volleyball.

"As a freshman playing varsity sports it was both a challenge and an honor. I enjoyed my experiences and I look forward to the future," said Schultz.

Earl's top sport is volleyball. As a freshman he led Payton to the city championship in boys volleyball and he is regarded as one of the top boys volleyball players in the CPS. In the fall he choose to play 16-inch softball (instead of football) on a very good Payton program that is consistenly up there with Lane and Taft as one of the top 16-inch softball programs in the city. I did not talk too much about the Payton basketball team. Earl did get some playing time for a very young varsity Payton squad that was winless in the Red-North. Payton had a young roster with 6 freshman or sophs on the roster.

Earl is someone to look out for!

 

Why no love to 16-inch softball? a reader asks

I got this email from a reader:

Hi, I noticed there is alot of emphasize of football and track on the blog and there should be some 16 inch softball, which belongs solely to the CPS. I am close the Lane Tech softball team. The team is extremely talented, after coming back from a disappointing year last year which resulted in a semi-final lose to Taft. The team is composed of returning juniors and a handful of first year softball baseball players. The team has slaughtered most of their opponents. Highlights of the season include a 37-0 win against Lake View, winning a tournament on the southside of chicago, and a record of 5-0 (I believe) against Taft.

Their record is 20-0. Coach George Stavrakas, coach of the Lane Girls Softball Varsity, is heading an awesome team. The team faces Von Steuben on Tuesday at Winnemac Park (Foster and Damen). A doubleheader win against Von will make Lane 22-0 and win conference. Von wins both games, they win conference. A doubleheader split means there will be co-champions. The playoffs start a couple days after Tuesday and the championship at UIC is scheduled for two fridays (not including tomorrow) from now.

Neilski's past 16-inch softball coverage

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Taft Upsets Payton for 16-inch softball championship

16-INCH SOFTBALL

PUBLIC LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP

Taft 12, Payton 2, 5 inn.

Taft (18-6): Nick Vidas 3-for-3, 3 RBI; D.J. Doyle 2-for-3, 3 RBI

16 inch softball in deep trouble of getting cut in the CPS

After a 10 year run in the CPS 16 inch softball - otherwise known as boys softball is in deep danger of getting cut. Rising costs of reserving and maintaining field space is one of the concerns. There also seems to be greater interest in suburban schools.  Participation is certainly not an issue. 16 inch softball, a fall sport, is very popular throughout the CPS. Schools like Taft, Corliss, Von Steuben, Kelly, and many more all have schools.

An anonymous source told me: "they are dropping the sport because Lane Tech always wins the title." Lane has won 7 of the last 9 city 16 inch softball titles including a 22-0 drubbing of Kelly to win last year's city championship. I'm sure that is not the reason why they are seriously considering dropping the sport.

Lane Tech's 16-inch softball team wins city title 7 out of last 9 years

Lane Tech crushed upstart Kelly 22-0 to win the CPS city softball title in 2008. Kelly did Lane a big favor by upsetting highly regarded Payton in the quarterfinals. Payton, along with Lane was a pre-season favorite to make it back to the city finals in which Lane barely held them off last yea

PUBLIC LEAGUE PLAYOFFS

Lane 22, Kelly 0, title

Lane 15, Taft 1, semifinal

Kelly 9, Corliss 6, 8 inn., semifinal

16-inch Softball Wins City!!!

A Lane Tech player hits the ball during a recent practice at Horner Park.

In a rematch from last year's city championship, Lane Tech barely got by as they defeated Payton 12-11 in 8 innings. Tim Nard hit a home run and Junior Munoz had the game-winning RBI. Hiram DeJesus was the winning pitcher.

Since 1999, Lane Tech has been the dominant power in boys softball and now have won the city championship 6 of the last 8 years. Last year they beat Payton 15-5 for the city championship.

This victory marks Lane Tech's first city championship on the varsity level in the fall of 2007. Some of our other teams have come close (girls volleyball 3rd, boys cross country 3rd, girls cross country 3rd, golf 2nd) but the 16-inch softball team pulled through by the slimmest of margins to win the city title for Lane.

BOYS SOFTBALL
City Championship
Lane Tech 12, Payton 11, 8 innings

16-inch softball 2007 Preview and Schedule

(click for larger picture); Lane Tech at bat during the city championhsip in 2006

16-inch softball is one of the more lesser known sports in Chicago. For one, it's still a relatively new sport. Boys softball has been played by the Chicago Public League in the early 1900's, then it died in 1914. But in 1999, the Chicago Public Leagude decided to resurrect 16-inch softball where it is still played to this day as a boys sport in the fall.

Since 1999, Lane Tech has been the dominant power in boys softball and have won 5 of the 8 years. Last year they beat Payton 15-5 for the city championship. Lane Tech will be one of the favorites again this year. Other teams to look out for are Payton, Mather, Von Steuben, and more.

Below is the tentative regular season 16-inch boys softball schedule for 2007:

9/11/07 vs. Northside Prep @ Winnemac Park 4:00pm

9/18/07 vs Schurz @ Winnemac Park 4:00pm

9/25/07 vs Von Stueben @ Winnemac Park 4:00pm

10/02/07 vs Steinemetz  @ Winnemac Park 4:00pm

10/9/07 vs Mather @ Winnemac Park 4:00pm