Tinley Park Freshman Softball Sensation Tomita Picks Up Her Game

Tinley Park freshman second baseman Cosette Tomita nearly kicked herself out of the Titans’ starting lineup with some erratic fielding during pre-game infield drills.

Her coach, Wendy Podbielniak, decided to stick with her after calling the Titans together for a brief meeting near the mound before Monday afternoon’s South Suburban Red Conference softball opener against Oak Lawn.

Tomita rewarded Podbielniak for her show of faith with a show of her own offensive firepower and defensive grit.

Tomita struck for a fourth-inning grand slam in the Titans’ 10-2 victory. She finished with two hits in four at-bats and drove in six runs. And she made a couple of nifty plays in the field, too, including one where she roamed to her right to snare a soft liner and another to notch the game’s final out.

Tomita nearly was plowed over by Oak Lawn’s Alexa Rothman as she charged a grounder between first and second but was not deterred. Tomita came up with the ball and fired a strike to Tinley Park’s Alyssa Williams to retire the Spartans.

"It was mental—it was getting to me," Tomita said of her pre-game jitters. "When I got into the game, I knew I had to let it go. I told myself to forget about it and make up for it with my bat."

“We’ve got to teach them to overcome things mentally, and she’s got to understand that she’s got to do her job defensively and offensively or we’ve got to make changes—regardless of her age,” Podbielniak said. “We’re sticking with our younger kids, and it’s paying off.

“The more confidence they get, the better off they’re going to be. You saw that last play. That was interference. She hit the runner, got the ball and made the play. That’s what we’re looking for.”

Tomita’s hitting heroics are a bonus treat. Two hits, grand slam, six RBIs.

“Not bad,” Podbielniak said.

No. Not bad.

“I didn’t know if I was going to make the varsity team,” Tomita said. “I was hoping I would. I knew I probably would make the sophomore team. But I was really happy when I made it to the varsity, and I’m really glad that I made it.”

She cut her teeth in the off-season playing travel ball with the Downers Grove Outlaws.

“Yeah, I think that helped,” Tomita said. “If I didn’t have that experience, I don’t think I would be playing up here now.”

She is playing in the middle infield next to the Titans’ shortstop, junior Alyssa Gunther, and turning heads. Gunther reached base in all four of her at-bats against Oak Lawn. She doubled and scored four runs. She also had two stolen bases and two RBIs.

Yet, she seemed more impressed with Tomita’s cool under fire that her own steady production at the top of the order.

“I knew she had it,” Gunther said. “She does well under pressure. She already has all the fundamentals, the talent, so that gets her a leg up, and she works with the team very well.”

One of Tomita’s on-the-field teachers is Gunther.

“She’s a team leader,” Podbielniak said. “If you come in on her, she can hit it by you. You go back on her, she’ll drop one in. The kid’s just phenomenal, solid defensively, solid offensively, all the way around the board, great kid, great student. Just a likeable kid. She’s doing a great job for us.”