Tori Richardson takes Tinley past Bremen

There is nothing soft about a 12-inch softball, especially when it hits you at close to 60 mph.

The one that hit Tinley Park’s Tori Richardson in the left arm made a noise. But she didn’t. There was no scream, no groan, no rub, not even a wince.

The senior catcher simply trotted down to first base, waving off any assistance from those who were concerned.

“Nope, I was good,” Richardson said, smiling. “I get pretty used to it, especially during travel season. I get hit so many times. And I’m a catcher. I take balls off an arm, off a leg.

“I guess the toughness comes from just getting used to it.”

Richardson found her own way to get even Wednesday for the Titans during a 10-0 victory over Bremen in a Class 3A Lemont Regional semifinal game.

Charlotte Feliz went 4-for-4 for Tinley Park (16-12-1). Megan Piotrowski tripled and singled, while Emily Korduplewski struck out eight in five innings.

Kaycee McManus, Alyssa Seals and Brooke Gluszek each had hits for Bremen (8-19).

The hitting star of the day for the Titans was Feliz, who had four singles. The defensive play of the day was turned in by Piotrowski, who made a highlight-reel catch in right-center and doubled a base runner off first base.

And then there was Richardson.

The Marian Wisconsin recruit reached base two times. But she used the same left arm that was hit by the fastball to burn the Braves two more times.

In the top of the third inning, she caught a third strike and then fired to first base to double off a Bremen runner. That one was relatively close.

In the top of the fifth, she ended the inning by picking off another runner at first base. This one wasn’t close.

“I always watch for at least the first lead off,” Richardson said. “Or sometimes I just go for the first pickoff chance I see.

“My throwing arm has had a lot of work. It has taken a lot of years to work on the strength. It’s constant throws and working out and arm mechanics, too. And being a left-handed catcher does give me some advantages.”

Richardson definitely gives Korduplewski more confidence in the circle.

“She’s special,” Korduplewski said. “She’s Tori. She doesn’t like to show off too much, but she’s tough. That’s why she took that pitch and didn’t say anything. She takes those all the time.”

Richardson and Korduplewski seemingly took turns frustrating Bremen on the scoring chances.

“We just have the connection of keeping it in the game and always picking each other up,” Richardson said. “If I miss a passed ball or she has a bad pitch or walks somebody, we always pick each other up.

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“When things get tough, Emily gets the next strikeout. Then I get the next pickoff. It works that way. We just work back and forth.”

Richardson has a .983 fielding percentage behind the plate. She has thrown out seven would-be base stealers and picked off eight base runners.

Batting second in the order, she’s hitting .403 with a team-leading 13 doubles and three home runs plus 31 runs and 21 RBIs.

“I’ve had some good doubles up the middle, but I mostly move people,” Richardson said. “My job is to move runners and help us score more.”

Richardson has been a varsity player throughout her high school career. The Titans have no team captains, but …

“She’s a leader for sure,” Feliz said. “We all know that she’s the center and she is going to back us all up on anything. We get down, she picks us up. She gets down, we pick her up.

“It’s a good balance.”