Northwest/ Scouting Class 4A softball sectionals

By John Leusch

jleusch@dailyherald.com

At Schaumburg

Semifinals: 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: No. 1 Elk Grove (31-4) vs. No. 5 West Chicago (21-10); 4:30 p.m. Thursday: No. 6 Leyden (27-7) vs. No. 2 St. Charles North (28-3)

Championship: 11 a.m. Saturday

Advancement: Monday’s DeKalb (Northern Illinois University) supersectional vs. the winner of the Rockford Guilford sectional

Elk Grove vs. West Chicago: Playing in one of the toughest sectionals in the state, Elk Grove will face heralded West Chicago senior pitcher Mary Connolly (18-7, 1,009 career strikeouts). The Grenadiers are coming off their 17th regional crown and 15th under Hall of Fame coach Ken Grams, who has 742 career wins. “We’ll have our hands full,” said Grams, who is in his 31st season. But the Grens have the right hand of junior ace Dani Goranson (28-4), who is also one of the state’s premier pitchers. The Michigan State recruit is also hitting .500 for Elk Grove, which took third in the state. The Grens have offensive power, too, from Megan Keegan (8 home runs) and Kristen Cetkovic (7). Goranson and Becca Walz each have 4. Connolly, a four-year ace for the Warhawks, carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning of the Glenbard North regional championship and defeated the host Panthers 3-0. The DePaul-bound star also blasted a two-out tape-measure home run over the left field fence in the top of the first inning for the only run she would need. Before Connolly entered high school, West Chicago had one regional title in program history. With her 2-hitter (9 strikeouts, 2 walks) on Saturday, the Warhawks have three in four years.

Leyden vs. St. Charles North: Leyden is making its second straight appearance in a sectional under sixth-year coach Kurt Schuett. Junior Morgan Maize belted her 17th and 18th home runs (both 2-run blasts), giving her 77 RBI, in a 4-1 victory over No. 3 Conant in the Cougars’ regional final. According to the IHSA record book going into this season, Maize tied the single-season state record for home runs. Becky Clark of Newton hit 18 in 1982. Maize also moved into a tie for second in single-season RBI with Debbie Olson of Hillcrest (1986). Laura Burt of Lexington owns the record with 80 in 1988. Maize also threw a 2-hitter at Conant to move her pitching record to 24-4. She had 6 strikeouts and one 1 walk against Mid-Suburban League champions. She is being recruited by Division I schools including Michigan and DePaul. Schuett also got hits against Conant from Moira Quinlan, Amanda Moran, Christina Morgan (double) and Brigid Mackey. In defeating Lake Park 11-1 for its regional championship, St. Charles North was led by the Russell sisters. Sydney Russell led off the game with her first career home run and Taylor Russell ended it with a blast to nearly the same spot to cap the win over Lake Park. The win gave St. Charles North its second regional title in three years. North Stars pitcher Amanda Ciran allowed 4 hits and 1 walk while striking out four to improve to 20-1.

At Warren

Semifinals: 4:30 p.m. Wednesday: No. 1 Fremd (27-5) vs. No. 4 Barrington (27-10); 4:30 p.m. Thursday: No. 2 Palatine (25-9) vs. No. 3 Lake Zurich (22-7).

Championship: 11 a.m. Saturday

Advancement: Monday’s 4:30 p.m. Glenbrook South supersectional vs. the winner of the New Trier sectional

Barrington vs. Fremd: No. 4 Barrington (27-10) is 4-0 against two of the four seeds in the sectional. The Fillies defeated No. 4 Fremd 8-2 and 3-0 and No. 2 Palatine 5-4 and 6-0. The Fillies have won 25 or more in 11 consecutive seasons and 17 of coach Perry Peterson’s 19 seasons. Barrington was second in the 2007 and 2008 Class AA state tourneys and has gone to the state finals seven times. When Barrington won its 10th straight regional title with a 4-0 shutout over host Zion-Benton, Fillies sophomore Loren Krzysko belted her 12th home run, a single-season school record. Fillies senior Colleen Shandley’s 217 career hits rank her ninth on the all-time IHSA list. Kiersten Tinkoff also homered against Z-B while Kiley Dolezal (23-7) fired a 2-hitter. Fremd took third place in the strong Mid-Suburban West and has received double-digit wins from junior Rachel Doering and sophomore Ashlynne Schwantz. Coach Jim Weaver’s Vikings defeated Buffalo Grove twice this season. Now in his 10th season, Weaver has directed his team to 24 or more wins nine times, back-to-back sectional crowns and 8 regional crowns. The Vikes were a state finalist the last two seasons in East Peoria. Fremd junior Sara Untiedt, filling in for injured shortstop Allie Gaeding (hand), helped lead a strong defensive effort by Fremd in a 4-3 regional championship victory over host Mundelein. Fremd scored 4 runs in the first three innings and never trailed. The Vikings took a 4-3 lead into the seventh when Doering retired the first two Mundelein batters before ending the game on a groundout to second baseman Megan Hubbard. Fremd center fielder Amanda Matsumoto made several outstanding plays in the field, including an all-out diving catch in the second inning to save a run.

Palatine vs. Lake Zurich: No. 2 Palatine (25-9) has won 20 or more games under coach Jeff Manz in eight of his nine seasons. Center fielder Joanne Jablonski recently became the single-season RBI leader (42) and owns the career mark. She also has 6 homers this season and a school-record 14 for her career, breaking the former mark of 10 by Kelli Urban. Shortstop Katie Mnichowicz owns the school career record for stolen bases and runs scored. The Pirates’ 7-4 regional championship victory over Warren was the fifth regional crown for Palatine under Manz — with four in a row from 2004-07. Senior second baseman Katie Scovic helped turn the tide of the game. She made a superb leaping grab of a hard-hit liner to end the top of the fourth when Warren had runners on second and third, then she led off the bottom of the inning by beating out a grounder to short to spark the big 6-run rally. Scovic and catcher Alyx Ballenger each went 3-for-4 as Palatine finished with 15 hits in the game. Pirates ace Dani Boisvert (20-8) got the final batter on a grounder back to the mound. Boisvert became the second 20-game winner Manz has coached. Lake Zurich ace Megan Mattera (18-7) struck out seven of the first eight batters she faced in the Bears’ 7-1 regional championship triumph over Carmel. She finished with 8 strikeouts and 1 walk in a 3-hitter. Mattera had a perfect game going with two outs in the fifth inning. The big hitter for the Bears was a freshman who had played on the junior varsity for most of the season. Designated player Mallory Parsons, competing in only her sixth varsity game, hit a pair of home runs and drove in 4 runs. Mattera and junior Christina Sandstedt each had a pair of singles for the Lake Zurich which had 8 hits against Carmel.