Stingers net Heatwave title

The Vernon Hills Stingers 16U elite team won the 14th annual McHenry County Heatwave Girls Fastpitch Tournament, a North American Fastpitch Association Class “Open” national qualifier, last weekend.

The Stingers dropped their first game of pool play but then found their stride, allowing only 5 runs in winning their next five games to capture the championship.

Finishing off pool play after their first loss, the Stingers beat the Hurricanes of DeKalb 9-0 and the McHenry Chaos 3-0. Nicole Bitter (Carmel Catholic) fired back-to-back shutouts, while Jordyn Comitor (Vernon Hills) and Erika Schoenfeld (Carmel) also shined in the circle.

Backing the solid pitching performances was a stingy defense that included Carlee Parsons (Lake Zurich), Kasey Roe (Lake Zurich) and Mady Roberts (Vernon Hills). They took away potential hits and kept the opponents off the base paths in a 15-1 victory over Barrington and an 11-0 win over McHenry County Heatwave Black.

The fleet-footed Daniel Comitor scored several runs with her aggressive base running. The bats came alive in scoring 46 runs over the five-game stretch with home runs by Kathleen Felicelli (Carmel), Maria Schroeder (Lake Zurich), Morgan Manka (Stevenson) and Mallory Parsons (Lake Zurich), who hit a 3-run bomb in the title-clinching 8-4 victory over Chippewa Falls, Wis.

Schroeder batted .500 for the tournament, Mallory Parsons had 13 RBI, and Jordyn Comitor and Felicelli each went 3-for-4 in the championship game.

The Stingers are 42-11 competing in “Open” and Class “A” tournaments throughout the fall (16-5) and summer (26-6). They will be host their own tournament this weekend, as they welcome 81 teams from the region and other states to Vernon Hills to compete in a USSSA national qualifier. The Stingers will then head to Overland Park, Kan., to compete in the USSSA “A” national tournament the last week of July.

The Stingers organization is devoted to the development of girls in the game of softball at ages 10U through 18U. The Stingers 16U Elite team is focused on girls that have an interest in continuing their softball career by playing in college through college exposure, camps and “A” level tournaments. They will be holding tryouts Aug. 13-14 at Grosse Point Park in Vernon Hills for all age groups. Please see their website at www.vhstingers.com for details.

Northern ICE tryouts: The Northern ICE girls fastpitch softball program will hold tryouts at Cooks Park, 600 N. Main St., Wauconda, on the following dates:타 Saturday, Aug. 13: 8U/9U/10U 9-11 a.m., 11U/14U 9-11 a.m., 13U/12U 3-5 p.m., 15U/16U/18U 3-5 p.m.타 Sunday, Aug. 14: 12U/14U 12:30-2:30 p.m., 13U/16U/15U 2:30-4:30 p.m., 18U/10U/11U 4:30-6:30 p.m.타 Wednesday, Aug. 17: 10U/11U/12U/13U 6-8 p.m., 14U/15U/16U/18U 8-10 p.m.After the first week of tryouts, please call first, as some teams may be full.Any questions can be directed to Rick Eklund at (847) 650-7910. Those interested can also visit northernicefastpitch.com or icefastpitch.org.타 Senior middle hitter Brianna Skeens (Vernon Hills) will be a captain for Augustan#146;s volleyball team for the second consecutive year.

Skeens played in 107 games last fall and was second on the team in kills with a 2.16 average (231 kills in 107 games).

She was second on the Vikings in blocks with 51 (16 solo and 35 assists) for an average of 0.48 per game.

A multiplesport athlete, she was a starter on the Augustana basketball team last winter.