Riverside Brookfield High School’s Amelia Pytel impressively handles the challenges of being a freshman pitcher on varsity. Her 16 strikeouts in the Bulldogs’ 3-2 victory at rival Lyons Township, Friday, marks already her fourth outing with double-digit strikeouts.
“I think it’s more of a mental game than anything. You have to trust your defense and things will go good,” Pytel said. “I’m happy for us as a team. If it wasn’t for our hitting also, we wouldn’t be here, so I’m happy for it and happy about how we’re doing.”
Pytel and fellow freshman starters Mia Melendez and Brailyn Naylor are excelling for the Bulldogs (14-8, 6-2 in Upstate Eight Conference East Division), who beat Fenton 12-1, Monday for their sixth straight victory.
While Pytel pitched against LTHS (6-11) and was No. 7 in the batting order, left-fielder Naylor batted No. 2 and first baseman Melendez batted No. 5.
“It’s a good experience getting to be with my friends and also getting to play the sport we all love,” Naylor said. “It all just kind of combines into one good feeling.”
Pytel held off the persistent Lions just enough after RBHS scored all three runs in the top of the first inning. Senior Ellie Megall had a run-scoring double and junior flex Kennedy Holakovsky followed with a two-run single.
“It was a pretty big win,” Megall said. “They’re not in our conference but this is a sectional team and a local team as well so there’s always kind of a rivalry with them.”
The victory also completed five RBHS wins in five days – all on the road. That included 10-2, April 29 at West Chicago (11-8, 8-2) to avenge a 15-3 loss, April 8.
“It’s always great to come to LT and win,” RBHS coach Emma Jarrell said. “It was a really mentally tough week and they did really, really great. To come away with five wins is crazy.”
Melendez (.393 batting average, team-high 6 home runs and 31 runs batted in), Naylor (.400, 3 RBIs) and Pytel (.360, 2 HR, 13 RBIs) are among offensive leaders along with Megall (.446, 2 HR, 23 RBI), junior Trinity Stevenson (.468, 22 RBIs) and senior Ella Jurgens (.451, 20 RBIs).
On the mound, Pytel is 4-2 in 12 appearances with 95 strikeouts in 50 innings and a 2.94 earned-run average. Melendez (2-1, 3.00 ERA) has pitched 9.1 innings in three games.
“We knew that this freshman class was awesome,” Jarrell said. “I guess we didn’t know how great they were going to do on varsity as freshmen and all of them are doing a really, really great job. Brailyn is so fast, Mia hits the ball so hard and Amelia hits and pitches. And they’ve really meshed with the older girls, too. They have a lot of fun.”
Jarrell said the freshmen being together has helped their transition. Pytel and Naylor were teammates on the Brookfield 12-Under all-star softball team that reached the Little League Central Regional in 2023.
“During tryouts, I think we were all really nervous and we all wanted to make [varsity] together and stay together,” Melendez said. “I think we’re all happy that we are because we like playing with each other.”
Naylor agreed there are pressures as freshmen on varsity. Megall, a Northern Kentucky recruit, understands as a fourth-year varsity starter.
“I see a lot of myself in them when I was a freshman,” Megall said. “It’s really hard to get pulled up as a freshman and you have a lot of pressure on you to play well and prove to everyone that you’re able to be on this team. I think that they’re doing a really good job.”
Pytel struck out a season-high 17 in the 8-6 six-inning victory over Evergreen Park March 31. She struck out the last five hitters Friday, the last two after the Lions’ Isabella Evans singled to score Ava Jacklin, who singled, and cut the deficit to one in the sixth inning.
“It’s a rival team, they’re local and in sectionals so it’s a big deal [to win],” Pytel said.
LTHS coach Megan Quinn knows Pytel’s talents firsthand. She used to coach her one-on-one.
“That riseball that I taught her years ago came back to bite me,” said Quinn with a laugh. “She’s a phenomenal pitcher. They have really good hitters, too. We played a clean, defensive game. We just couldn’t hit. It happens.”
In the fifth, Maddie McLane had a leadoff single and scored on Julia Ahrens’ two-out single. The Lions also stayed close thanks to Lee, who stranded five runners over the final four innings, four in scoring position.
“Lucy threw a very good game,” Quinn said.
The Lions are 2-3 in the West Suburban Conference Silver Division after losing to Glenbard West 8-6 Monday.