2025 Herald-News Softball Player of the Year: Lincoln-Way Central’s Lisabella Dimitrijevic

For the second straight season, Lincoln-Way Central’s Lisabella Dimitrijevic has been selected as the Herald-News Softball Player of the Year.

And with good reason.

The Florida State-bound Dimitrijevic capped her stellar high school career this spring by fashioning a 23-1 record with an 0.47 ERA. In 164⅔ innings, she allowed just 55 hits and 29 walks while striking out 349 batters.

Not only was she a dominant pitcher, but she also was the No. 3 hitter in the batting order for the Knights, who finished with a 34-2 record. She hit .318 with eight doubles to go with a team-high seven home runs and 34 RBIs, second on the club.

Also for the second straight season, Dimitrijevic was named the Gatorade Illinois Player of the Year.

She won’t have time to rest and enjoy her success, though. She will continue to play for the Illinois Chill through the summer before going to Florida State for a training week in July and then embarking on a trip to play with the Seminoles in Europe before coming back to start college in August.

She was a member of the Croatian National Team last summer and played with them in Paris.

Entering this season, Dimitrijevic already had accomplished more than most players on a softball field, but there was one more thing she wanted to do.

“The state championship was the main goal this year,” Dimitrijevic said. “It was definitely what we were working toward all year. It didn’t end the way we wanted it to [a 2-0 loss to Lockport in the Class 4A Lockport Sectional championship game]. Lockport was the better team that day, and they earned the win, but I would have liked a chance to play at the state tournament.”

Although they didn’t advance to the state finals, the Knights and Dimitrijevic weren’t lacking for competition. They play in the ridiculously tough Southwest Suburban Conference, and the Lockport Sectional featured four teams from that conference – Lockport, Lincoln-Way Central, Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way West.

Even with that type of competition day in and day out, Dimitrijevic led the Knights to an unbeaten conference record.

“Every day was a test in our conference,” Dimitrijevic said. “I like playing against those types of teams, though. It challenges me and makes me better.

“It will be interesting when I get to college, because I am playing such good competition all the time. Some girls from other states might not have played competition as tough as I did, so I think I will have an advantage when I get there.”

Another thing on her side when she gets to college? Those players will not have grown up playing against her. This season, she decided to mix in her changeup more often in order to complement her overpowering fastball, which reaches 70 m.p.h.

“I threw more offspeed changeups this year than I had in the previous two years,” Dimitrijevic said. “Teams have seen me a lot, and I wanted to show them something that they hadn’t seen before.

“Throwing it more gave me more and more confidence in it and it worked a lot. The hitters couldn’t just sit on the fastball.”

For the previous two seasons, Dimitrijevic had worked with catcher Lucy Cameron and the two had built a great rapport. However, Cameron graduated, and Jaimee Bolduc took her spot behind the plate.

It didn’t take long for them to form a mental bond.

“It wasn’t really a challenge throwing to Jamiee,” Dimitrijevic said. “It only took a couple of innings in our first game for us to get on the same wavelength.

“She knew what I wanted to throw and when I wanted to throw it. I didn’t have to shake her off very much at all this year.”

With all the games she has been involved in during her time at Lincoln-Way Central, Dimitrijevic couldn’t single one or two out as special. Rather, it was the team in general.

“There are a lot of games each season that stand out,” she said, “but what I will remember most is the overall experience and what I learned as a part of Lincoln-Way Central softball.

“We have a very close-knit team. We had great team chemistry, and everyone was friends with everyone. That made it a lot of fun to come to practices and games. And because we got along so well, everyone was playing for each other.”

One thing Dimitrijevic will not do when she gets to Florida State is hit, and that’s just fine with her.

“I don’t even bring a bat with me when I play travel ball,” she said. “I’m not going to hit in college, and I am perfectly fine with that.

“Hitting was never something that I could handle very well mentally. If I did bad, I would want to punch a wall. When I am pitching, I can handle if things go wrong a lot better. I think it’s because I like to be the one controlling the action instead of reacting to it.”