She went from a chance encounter at TnT Batting cages in Kankakee to playing in the NSA Fastpitch World Series in South Carolina this summer. That was the path that 10-year old softball player Madelaine Regain of  Diamond took over the last couple of months.

Not only that, but Regain struck gold as Team Oak Stars of Illinois made it all the way to the national championship before finishing second to the Orion Hunter softball team out of West Virginia.

"This is the first year that the team has made the World Series," Oak Stars coach Brett Kelly said. "It's new to all of the girls since we went to the Class A series."