Area Sports Roundup | Brother Rice’s Van Assen, Chicago Christian’s Sedakis lauded after huge seasons

By Jeff Vorva
Staff Writer

The high school baseball and softball seasons closed up shop earlier in the month, but there are a few leftovers that have jumped out.

Brother Rice senior pitcher Cole Van Assen was named to the Collegiate Baseball/Diamond Sports High School All-American team.

Van Assen was 10-4 with a 1.79 ERA for the Crusaders, who finished second in the state in Class 4A. He racked up 90 strikeouts in 78 innings and shut out New Trier in the state semifinals.

The Purdue-bound Van Assen was joined by Homewood-Flossmoor’s Dillon Head as the only Illinois representatives on the first team.

Former Crusader catcher Zion Rose, who transferred to IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, for his senior season, also made the first team.

In softball, Chicago Christian’s Lizzie Sedakis was one of several area players to make it to the Illinois Coaches Association’s first-team all-state team and appears to have set an IHSA state record in the process. She hit .806 this season which should be the best in state history.

There is a possibility that someone else in the state beat .806 this season, so things won’t become official until the IHSA updates its records.

According to IHSA records, Emily Crompton of Christ Our Rock Lutheran in Centralia holds the season record for batting average with a .768 in 2018.

Sedakis hit .763 in 2022, which should be second all-time; however, she is not listed in the IHSA record book.

The Loyola-bound Sedakis also hit 13 homers and had 57 RBI, 10 doubles, six triples and 39 stolen bases this year. She was the Metro Suburban Red’s Player of the Year.

The Chicago Ridge resident was named to the ICA’s Class 2A all-state first team for the second year in a row.

Chicago Christian’s Lizzie Sedakis hit .806 this year, which should put her at No. 1 in the IHSA record books. Photo by Jeff Vorva

Other ICA standouts
The area had strong representation on the ICA softball teams thanks in part to Marist’s dominance in winning the Class 4A state title.

Marist’s Caroline O’Brien and Isabel Cunnea made the all-state first team in Class 4A. The RedHawks’ Gianna Hillegonds and Camryn Lyons joined Shepard’s Analise Mulvihill and Sandburg’s Addison Torgerson on the second team. Marist’s Maia Pietrzak and Sandburg’s Grace Fuller were on the third team.

In Class 3A, St. Laurence’s Sophia Sanchez and Sarah Klonowski joined Evergreen Park’s Lily Strand on the first team. St. Laurence’s Emma Lotus and Evergreen Park’s Nicole Reynolds made the second team. Evergreen Park’s Dora Cihocki, De La Salle’s Autumn Kelleher and Nazareth’s Annabella Rychetsky made  the third team.

All-Stars coming
The Frontier League All-Star Game is coming to Crestwood.

Ozinga Field, home of the Windy City ThunderBolts, will host the game and other activities July 11-12.

There will be a home run derby and skills competition at 6:30 p.m. on July 11 and the game will take place at 6:30 p.m. on July 12.

The last time the ThunderBolts hosted the all-star game was in 2001.