Peotone’s Sophie Klawitter, Wilmington’s Molly Southall, current ICE rivals, future ACC rivals

When the Peotone and Wilmington softball teams met for their two-game Illinois Central Eight Conference series earlier this month, it allowed for another series of matchups between one of the state’s top junior pitchers, the Blue Devils’ Sophie Klawitter, and one of the state’s top junior hitters, the Wildcats’ Molly Southall.

They still have a potential meeting in the Class 2A postseason that starts next week, as well as next year’s prep season. And even after two of the most highly touted Class of 2026 recruits graduate high school, they’ll have the opportunitiy to square off again as conference rivals on the college stage. Klawitter is committed to pitch at Louisville, while Southall is headed to North Carolina State, giving the two the chance to face each other in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Klawitter’s early interest becomes crafted passion

A self-described “girly girl” at heart, Klawitter found a surprising joy on a softball diamond in her early years, especially inside the pitching circle, falling in love with the position long before she developed a wicked riseball paired with a deceptive changeup.

“I didn’t love the whole dirt thing, but I wasn’t really good at anything else,” Klawitter said. “And I loved pitching because, I can’t lie, I love having the attention on me. It was just like, oh pitching, that’s fun.”

As she’s grown into a love for the game and her unique skill set, she’s also realized there are few feelings greater than what comes after what she’s great at: striking people out.

She currently has 314 in 152⅔ innings at the time of this writing, an ERA of 0.92, opponent’s batting average of .118 and an 11-12 record for a Peotone team that’s currently 12-13 and finished fifth in the ICE (5-9).

Two of her four no-hitters are perfect games, and she’s just 19 strikeouts from breaking her own school season record of 333 she set last year. She also leads the team in batting, currently hitting .369 with nine doubles, 12 runs scored and 10 RBIs.

“I just like to go right at a batter,” Klawitter said. “Nothing’s more satisfying than a strikeout for me. Obviously a weak ground ball is great, but I’m going to go right after a batter.”

Her senior year will be spent with her sister, Mary, an eighth grader now, likely serving as her catcher as a freshman. She also played sports with her older brother, 2024 Peotone graduate Jack, on the Blue Devils’ Unified Basketball State finalist team two years ago. Jack, who was born with intellectual disabilities and has matching “live unified” tattoos with Sophie, could be heard telling jokes in the background as Klawitter talked about how much he means to her.

“It’s really great to have siblings who support me, and Jack is just such a ball of sunshine,” Klawitter said. “It doesn’t matter how angry I am, I could never be angry at Jack. I have my moments – don’t get me wrong, he’s my brother ... he’s just my rock. I love him to death."

Five-tool Southall part of family that ‘bleed(s) purple’

Southall patrols center field for a Wilmington team that’s 22-6 at the time of this writing and finished 12-2 in the ICE, one game back of champion Manteno. She’s one of four Wildcats currently flirting with a .500 batting average, hitting .493 with nine home runs, 47 RBIs, 48 runs, 15 stolen bases and a .959 fielding percentage.

Like Klawitter, Southall has a softball player sister. Miranda, currently an assistant coach at Rock Valley College, is a 2016 Wilmington graduate. A decade apart, Southall was a youngster when her older sister was striking out batters and hitting home runs, but she’s old enough to remember chasing those homers down.

“I remember her being a really great pitcher, but she also had a good bat,” Southall said. “I remember she’d hit home runs and I’d go chasing after the ball, and I just remember her being a great attribute to this team.”

That’s something Southall has tried to take on herself, something she’s seen not just from her sister, but her Wildcats-centric family. Her brother, a 2015 Wilmington graduate, was the quarterback for the Wildcats’ 2014 state championship football team. Their father, Barry, is the longtime offensive coordinator for the program that’s won three state titles.

“It’s everything,” Southall said of Wilmington. “We’ve been here for a while, and it’s such a spirit and pride. We always say we bleed purple, and the community and family is just amazing.”

While the entire family bleeds Wildcat purple, they also have one of the most inspirational people in town right in their own home. Southall’s mother, Joyce, is a breast cancer survivor and her daughter’s ultimate inspiration.

“She’s a strong woman,” Southall said. “She inspires me every day and inspires me to push forward because of what she had to battle through. It’s just so inspiring and so great to see.”