Teams will find a traffic jam on the way to East Peoria Area sectionals stacked with top-tier squads.(Sports Extra) - Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Byline: Dave Miller Daily Herald Sports Writer

High-powered softball programs Glenbard North and Downers Grove South along with top teams Glenbard South, Wheaton Warrenville South and Naperville Central all have downstate dreams this season.

However, only one will actually be able to reach East Peoria in June.

That's because the five teams are among the many from the area that will feed into the Class AA Hinsdale South supersectional, which will pit the Glenbard South sectional winner against the Neuqua Valley sectional champion.

The Glenbard South sectional contains Addison Trail, Batavia, Driscoll, East Aurora, Geneva, Glenbard East, Glenbard North, Glenbard South, Glenbard West, IMSA, Montini, Rosary, St. Francis, West Aurora, West Chicago, Wheaton Academy, Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South, Willowbrook and York.

The Neuqua Valley sectional features Benet, Bolingbrook, Downers North, Downers South, Hinsdale Central, Hinsdale South, Naperville Central, Naperville North, Neuqua Valley, Oswego, Oswego East, Plainfield Central, Plainfield North, Plainfield South, Romeoville, Sandwich, Waubonsie Valley and Yorkville.

Lake Park's quest to earn a fifth straight spot in the Elite Eight will start in the St. Charles East sectional.

The Lancers head the St. Charles field, which contains Bartlett, Burlington Central, Conant, Elgin, Elk Grove, Fenton, Hoffman Estates, Kaneland, Larkin, Maine East, Maine South, Maine West, St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Schaumburg, South Elgin and Streamwood.

The St. Charles East sectional champion will meet the Machesney Park Harlem sectional winner in the Northern Illinois University supersectional.

The Harlem sectional field: Belvidere, DeKalb, Dixon, Freeport, Harlem, Huntley, Marengo, Marian, Richmond-Burton, Rochelle, Rock Falls, Rockford Auburn, Rockford Boylan, Rockford East, Rockford Guilford, Rockford Jefferson, Rockton Hononegah, Sterling, Sycamore and Woodstock.

While it seems as if the season is just getting started, Class AA seeding meetings take place in 19 days on May 2.

The Class A road: Benedictine University will host a Class A supersectional pitting a to-be-announced sectional site winner versus the Plano sectional champion.

The undetermined sectional contains Immaculate Conception, Lisle, Timothy Christian, Walther Lutheran, Westmont, Willows Academy, Woodlands Academy and the following Chicago schools: CICS- Longwood, Douglass, F.W. Parker, Holy Trinity, Latin, Luther North, Luther South, North Lawndale, Our Lady of Tepeyac, Perspectives Charter, Phoenix Academy, Providence-St. Mel, Richards, St. Benedict and St. Gregory.

The Plano sectional consists of Amboy, Aurora Central Catholic, Aurora Christian, Bureau Valley, Earlville, Indian Creek, LaMoille, Mendota, Newark, Ohio, Ottawa Marquette, Paw Paw, Peru St. Bede, Plano, Princeton, Putnam County, Seneca, Serena, Somonauk and Spring Valley Hall.

The Class A seeding meetings take place on April 25.

Ram tough: Glenbard East got off to a 4-2 start after going 8-24 last season but then couldn't take advantage of its momentum when its doubleheader with St. Charles North last Saturday was wiped out by the cold.

'We haven't had a game in a week, so it's frustrating,' Rams coach Val Pinzker said Tuesday before her team's Wednesday game at Fenton was canceled by snow.

Senior second baseman Brittany Fairbairn, a returning all-area selection, and junior Alyssa Gianatasio, who has hit 2 home runs, have helped lead the Rams to their fast start.

Sophomore Abby Petersdorf has recorded three of the team's four victories.

'My sophomore has been pitching her heart out,' Pinzker said.

Playing up: Glenbard South just completed its two-year home-and- home scheduled contract with top-ranked Sandburg last Monday, but Raiders coach Julie Fonda hopes Sandburg coach Jim Fabianski agrees to continue playing her team.

'I'm trying to build our program,' Fonda said.

'I'm trying to get us playing at the top competition, and Sandburg's it. I'd love to play Stagg. I'd love to play Lincoln-Way East, Lincoln-Way Central.

'I'd love to play all those teams, and sometimes your schedules offers that and sometimes it doesn't. We play all the DVC teams. I'm not going to back down just because I'm a smaller school.'

Fonda didn't mind traveling to the south suburbs to take on Sandburg in Orland Park.

'This wasn't a long drive for us,' said Fonda, pointing out the Raiders travel to places such as DeKalb and Rochelle for their Western Sun Conference competition. 'This was a piece of cake.'

dmiller@@dailyherald.com