DiPrima, Dunne: BG’s double dose of D-I

When Buffalo Grove first-year coach Jamie Paul says Andrea DiPrima and KC Dunne are “well-rounded” softball players, she means it.

They have been all around the diamond the past four years.

The future Division I players have combined to play every position on the field for the Bison except for third base.

“They are not just well-rounded athletes, they are also well-rounded individuals,” Paul said. “They have that drive in school and in athletics.”

Not many Mid-Suburban League coaches have had the opportunity to coach two Division I players in the same season since the sport began in the early 1970s.

But on the first day of practice, Paul found herself in that position with DiPrima and Dunne, who have started on the varsity since the first day of their freshman seasons.

Dunne made her commitment to Western Illinois in January of 2009 while DiPrima announced her intention to Northwestern just four months later in April.

KC Dunne: After years of playing boys baseball, Dunne began softball in the eighth grade while she was a student at St. Mary School in Buffalo Grove.

Not only did she make the Bison varsity softball team as a freshman, she was also on the BG varsity basketball team that same season and a key member of the girls golf team for four years.

Before she even played her first softball game at BG, Dunne viewed some action in the IHSA Class 4A third-place game at Illinois State.

“I knew I was going to want to switch from baseball to softball when I got to high school, so I started playing softball in eighth grade,” said Dunne, who got into baseball when she was 5. “My dad (Jamie) loved baseball and he was my coach every year I played.”

Dunne’s mother Barb was a gymnast and cheerleader while at Fremd High School.

Now her parents will get to watch KC perform her favorite sport four more years after high school.

The honor roll student plans to study secondary education at Western Illinois, possibly becoming a history teacher.

The versatile Dunne has seen her way around much of the diamond. She has played shortstop, catcher, center field and second base.

She was one of the top leadoff hitters in the state last spring, batting .426 with 55 hits, 41 runs, 4 homers, 2 triples, 4 doubles and 16 RBI. She also stole 11 bases. Her 41 runs placed her second on BG’s all time single-season list.

Her 62 hits as a sophomore are the third highest all time at Buffalo Grove.

“I never thought I’d be one day playing Division I softball when I got to Buffalo Grove,” Dunne said. “But I knew Andrea (DiPrima) would. She’s always been a good player.”

Andrea DiPrima: DiPrima, who committed to Northwestern in the middle of her junior season, went on to enjoy a record-breaking campaign for Buffalo Grove softball.

Her .538 batting average, 67 hits, 10 home runs, 43 RBI and 29 extra base hits set single-season school records.

DiPrima is leaning toward being a math teacher, but like Dunne, she probably could teach people a thing or two about hitting.

“My dad (Tom) loves hitting,” Andrea said. “He had me playing baseball and T-ball as soon I could. I can’t explain it, but I loved it from the beginning.

“My dad and I talk about hitting every day. We study different pitchers and try to think of different strategies to hit them. We would watch the Cubs game together and he asked me questions about certain plays and how I would react to them. It’s just been a lot of fun for him and me.”

DiPrima has also had a lot of fun on the basketball floor, where she finished her four-year career at BG with 1,027 points and also played with Dunne in the 2008 state finals.

DiPrima ranks in the top 3 percent of her senior class with a 5.28 GPA on a 5.0 scale.

She was the only player from Illinois named to last year’s Louisville Slugger/National Fast Pitch Coaches Association All-American first team.

One of DiPrima’s favorite softball players is two-time Olympic medalist Jessica Mendoza, a four-time All-American outfielder at Stanford.

“She’s lefty and is more of a power hitter than I am,” DiPrima said. “But she’s also a contact hitter. That’s how I approach things. I don’t think of myself as a home run hitter. I just try to make contact.”

DiPrima and Dunne and been making solid contact at BG for four years.

“KC is so athletic,” said DiPrima of her longtime teammate in softball and basketball. “I think she could have gone to college and played any sport she wanted.”

DiPrima and Dunne will be playing their favorite sports this spring.

And Paul knows that means good news for BG softball fans.