Ryndak Sisters Lead DGN Softball to Best Season Ever

Separated in age by three years, Downers Grove North sisters Kendall and Dale Ryndak had never played on the same softball team until this year.

But in this, their first and only season together, the Ryndaks are enjoying each other’s company and spearheading the Trojans to heights they never dreamed of as recently as two years ago.

Kendall, a senior four-year varsity starter, and Dale, one of the best freshmen in the Chicago area, have been dominant on the mound and at the plate for Downers North, which has put together the best season in school history.

The Trojans take a 31-4 record into today’s playoff opener against Bolingbrook at Plainfield East. They broke the single-season school record for wins with a 12-1 win over Hinsdale Central last Wednesday. It was the second straight year that mark has gone down; North won 28 games last season, six more than its previous best.

“It’s crazy,” Kendall said. “We never expected this to happen. For this to happen this year, for us playing together, it was the most special thing.”

Kendall had a breakout year in 2010, going 13-6 and helping the Trojans win their first conference championship since 1977. She was the winning pitcher in North’s 1-0 victory over Naperville Central in the regional title game, just the fourth regional crown in school history.

But this year Kendall has vastly improved. She is 16-2 with a 0.82 earned-run average, which includes a six-inning perfect game against Lemont and two one-hitters. Kendall has walked only 17 batters while striking out 151 in 120 innings. 

Dale has been equally impressive. The rookie is 13-2 with a 0.92 ERA and five saves, having allowed 67 hits and 20 walks while fanning 104 in 114 innings. Dale, who throws harder than Kendall, often relieves her older sister in the late innings of games, giving teams a different look after the finesse approach of Kendall.

“You’ve got to give them credit,” Downers North coach Mark Magro said. “Usually over the course of a year there might be two or three games where our pitchers don’t show up and have a bad day. That has not happened and hopefully it’s not going to happen.”

The Ryndaks, who can play any field position except catcher, but usually play right field when they aren’t pitching, have also impressed at the plate, where they are among the best hitters on the team. Kendall is batting .485 with a team-leading seven home runs, 35 runs batted in and 27 runs scored. Dale, who bats ninth, has a .398 average and has belted five home runs, showing the type of power that Kendall didn’t have when she was younger.

“I always joke with her; are you trying to compete with me?” Kendall said with a laugh. “For her to be here and to actually do everything I’m doing too is incredible.

“I didn’t hit homers as a freshman. I wasn’t strong enough to hit them and I was definitely a lot littler than she is, but she’s been playing with older girls since she was 10 or 12, so she’s had a lot more experience and for her to hit homers and throw shutouts and to have this awesome of a year, to have the record that we do, is incredible.”

Dale is naturally stronger than Kendall, who has had to hit the weights the last two years to add muscle. It’s why Kendall, who will play college ball for Lindenwood University, a Division II school in St. Charles, MO, says Dale has an even brighter future.

“She started where I was last year so she’s definitely going to outdo me, I’ve got to admit,” Kendall said. “She’s probably going to be the best, or one of the best, kids that’s ever played at this school.”

The first real glimpse of that potential came on April 7, when Dale blasted a two-run homer over the center field fence to fuel North’s 5-0 victory over crosstown rival Downers Grove South. The Ryndak sisters combined on the shutout that day, improving the team’s record to 6-0.

“I just feel not pressured by it,” Dale said. “When I hit homers, I don’t feel like I hit them. I just swing away and I’m surprised that they go over.”

That’s not the only thing that surprised Dale. After the win over South, the media took notice of her and the spotlight started shining.

“I love it. It’s my favorite season,” Dale said. “I didn’t think I’d get written about as much in the paper. I didn’t think I’d have as much press or anything, but I did expect myself to do this good.”

The reason for that confidence was her experience. While Dale is new to high school ball, playing with and against older girls is old hat.

“I’ve always played with older girls so I’ve always been the youngest kid and I really don’t look at age like a big deal,” Dale said. “I really don’t have many friends (that are) my age. My friends on the team are usually older people, so to come out for this team I didn’t really expect it to be harder or anything different than like my travel team is. So that’s why I haven’t been getting psyched out.”

It also helps having an older sister who sets a great example.

“Kendall brings enthusiasm, she works hard,” Magro said. “I asked her the end of her sophomore year, you know you’ve got to get stronger, you’ve got to work out. Most girls will say, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it,’ but they don’t. She hasn’t stopped in two years now. She’s gotten stronger.

I think Kendall would definitely have been Division I if she was bigger, but she wants to play all four years (in college).”

Besides Kendall, the Trojans have two Division I pitching prospects in Dale Ryndak and sophomore Elaine Heflin, who has missed most of the season with a back injury. Dale’s talent and maturity have allowed her to take a surprisingly large leadership role, unusual for a freshman and especially so on a team that boasts six strong seniors, including shortstop Katie Hunzinger, who is headed into the Marine Corps on a full ROTC academic scholarship to Purdue, and other talented athletes like junior Sam Yeager, who was a state qualifier in badminton last spring before switching sports.

“(Dale) has got great leadership skills,” Kendall said. “Not only is she a freshman trying to do her job but she leads the team in a lot of stuff. She just comes through clutch every time she comes up to bat and she’s a great kid and she’s awesome to talk to about stuff. She helps the girls out a lot.”

The victory over South, part of a 14-game winning streak to start the season, led to a realization that something special was happening.

“Because not only did we beat them, we blew them out,” Kendall said. “We were undefeated at that point and after we beat them we were like, ‘We have a shot at doing something.’

“Right after that we just kept going. I thought, ‘Oh, maybe we’ll get a loss here and there, maybe we can win conference again,’ and we just kept winning over and over again.”

Blowout victories began piling up. The Trojans scored 10 or more runs in wins over Prospect, Reavis, Lyons Township, Oak Park, Willowbrook, Addison Trail, Hinsdale Central (twice) and Proviso West (twice).

North’s first loss was a 6-1 decision to top-ranked Elk Grove on April 29, a game that wasn’t originally on the schedule but was added because wet weather had caused both schools to have several games postponed.

The Trojans made three errors in that contest, but learned from it. Their only losses since are a 2-1 defeat in 11 innings to York, which they avenged with a 9-3 win the next day, a 1-0 decision to Glenbard South, one of the top Class 3A teams in the state, and a 3-2 setback in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader with 2010 supersectionalist New Trier in which Magro played mostly reserves.

“I know we lost to Elk Grove, but that was the No. 1 ranked team in the state and we didn’t lose that bad,” Kendall said. “We knew what we did wrong. We know we didn’t play our best that day and we know we can beat them and I think that’s what keeps us going, knowing that we can beat any team.”

Others agree. The Trojans, who clinched their second straight West Suburban Silver title last week, have been ranked as high as No. 2 in the Chicago area and are the No. 1 seed at the Class 4A Oswego East Sectional, one spot ahead of Downers South.

The only time Downers North has made the state finals was in 1979, when they lost in the quarterfinals to Machesney Park Harlem 7-1. But that was only the fourth year of the state series and the Trojans played just 19 games that year. The level of play was nowhere near what it is today and since North hasn’t won a sectional game since then, it’s easy to see how much a deep tournament run would mean to the Trojans.

“Our goal is to focus in the moment and win every game, but I definitely think we’re going to win regionals, even though there are a lot of tough teams in our regional and sectional,” Kendall said. “To win a sectional game would be unbelievable, but I really think that we can go Downstate because we’ve proven to everybody that it doesn’t matter if we’re young or we have freshmen playing, we have something special on this team. I don’t know what it is, but it’s contagious.”

It starts with the Ryndaks, two honor students and talented players who are savoring every moment of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

“It’s so great to share this because we can actually talk about the game now and it’s a blast,” Dale said. “I love her as a sister and I love her as a friend and it’s just so much better as a teammate.”

Kendall agrees.

“We’re so close,” Kendall said. “People think sisters fight, but I don’t remember the last time we fought. We’re best friends and I also think that’s why our team is doing so well this year is because even though she’s a freshman, she’s still leading the team. To sum it up, I don’t have words to explain how I feel about it because it’s everything and more that I dreamed about.”