MIGHTIER THORMEYER
With glove love, UMass recruit gives Providence something extra: ‘Why not make it look cool?'
Senior second baseman Sophia Thormeyer had a great day with her bat for Providence.
But it was her dive and catch that rocked Monday. A face-first, arms-extended dive and catch.
A year ago, she wouldn’t — or more directly couldn’t — have done it.
“Physically, no,” Thormeyer said. “Definitely not. Not when I was recovering from labrum surgery.”
Call it an emotional high. “I’m glad to be back on the field,” Thormeyer said. “I’m excited to be totally healthy. I want to strive to help this team have a really good season.”
It was a grand first game for Thormeyer, who also had two hits and two RBIs as the Celtics held on for an 11-9 victory over host Andrew in Tinley Park.
Kailee O’Sullivan doubled, homered and registered the pitching win for Providence (1-0). Grace Golebiowski added three hits, while Ella Kucala contributed two hits.
MaTaia Lawson tallied two hits for Andrew (4-1-1), including a tape-measure home run. Ana Cisek added a double and a triple. Abby LaPlant doubled twice and Maddie Hanik had two hits.
Andrew trailed 11-1 but scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning and five more in the seventh before Abby Johnson came on in relief for the Celtics and finished off the save.
Thormeyer, a UMass commit, was a promising Southland newcomer in 2021 and had a solid freshman season on the varsity at Lincoln-Way East.
During the fall of her sophomore year, she was playing in a travel league game when she made what would be her last throw for a long time.
“My shoulder snapped and that was it,” Thormeyer said. “It was very scary. I knew I’d need to have