Andrew freshman Madison Vrastil looks totally comfortable behind the plate as a starting catcher on the varsity.

And with a bat in her hands? Boy, does she have fun.

During a timeout before one plate appearance Monday against Sandburg, Vrastil did a series of dance moves for her amused teammates. Then, as an encore, she played her bat like a guitar as she strode to the batter’s box.

“Oh, yeah,” Vrastil said, laughing. “It calms me down. I’m just having fun out there with everybody. We should start doing some choreography.”

Once she’s swinging, however, it’s all business.

Vrastil reached base all five times in Andrew’s 9-6 victory. She drove in one run with a lined single, and her hustle in beating out an infield chopper allowed another run to score.

She hits out of the leadoff spot, a hefty task for a freshman. But she’s just as responsible being the “guider” behind the plate.

Sophomore pitcher Kathleen Hester, who earned her fourth victory of the season, was in a few jams. But Vrastil kept her on an even keel.

“I feel so comfortable with her calling my pitches,” Hester said. “When I go 3-0, she’ll just tell me to calm down, find my zone and throw the pitch I know I can get a strike with.

“I can see her behind the plate, ‘Take a deep breath. Everything is going to be OK.’ She always has my back.”

For the season, Vrastil is hitting .367 with three doubles, three triples and four stolen bases.

Andrew coach Matt Fish had no qualms about giving her not only a spot on the varsity but several key roles.

“I knew about her attitude, the poise, and the high softball IQ,” Fish said. “I wouldn’t say she’s totally laid back, but that’s what this team is all about.

“She kind of sets that tone for us, and everybody feeds off of that energy, which is awesome.”

Covering coach: When Marist sophomore Eileen Donahue hits a line drive, it can do damage.

During Thursday’s second game against Marian Catholic, she hit a screaming liner down the third base line that was just foul.

Teammate Easton Lotus, who stepped off of third base at the crack of the bat, was hit squarely in the right thigh.

Lotus screamed louder than the liner.

‘That’s my coping method,” Lotus said later. “I just needed to yell it out. It stung a little, but I’m fine.”

Lotus spent two or three minutes on the ground being tended to by a trainer and Marist coach Colleen Phelan. She then got back on her feet and gingerly tried to run it off.

Moments later, Lotus limped across the plate when Donahue hit a towering home run over the center field fence.

Lotus, an infielder who’s hitting .449 with 10 RBIs, 25 runs and six stolen bases, finished the game for the RedHawks (17-0). Despite a huge bruise, she played both Friday and Saturday.

Phelan appreciated her scrappiness. Phelan good-naturedly saluted Lotus’ toughness by labeling her a hero.

“She saved my life,” Phelan said. “You got to take one for the coach sometimes.”

Time capsule: In 1990 and 1991, Thornwood became the first Southland team to win back-to-back state softball titles.

The Thunderbirds had a contingent of standout players that included Tina Zuccolo, Michelle Venturella, Amy Benson, Emily Prno, Shannon Hudson and Michelle Zeiger.

In the six games the Thunderbirds won at state, opponents scored just two runs. That primarily was the handiwork of Zuccolo, a right-hander with a devastating riseball. She won 46 games during her college career at Drake, and has been a pitching coach at the school since 2014.

Venturella, a catcher, led the 1990 Thunderbirds with a .366 batting average in an era when pitchers dominated. She was a standout at Indiana and played for six years on the U.S. national team.

Venturella earned a gold medal with Team USA at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. She’s in her sixth season as the head coach at Washington in St. Louis.

During a 13-season stretch from 1986 to 1998, Thunderbirds coach Gary Lagesse took six teams to state, winning three titles.