Clutch finish helps Hersey past Meadows

Being the conscientious athlete she is, Angela Schmiederer was not entirely happy with her final at-bat that won Hersey a softball game on Wednesday.

"I got the bunt sign (with a runner on first and no outs)," said the Huskies senior catcher and Iowa recruit. "And I failed to get it down."

But she didn't fail to make up for it a few pitches later.

With Dani Sychowski still getting to second base on a wild pitch, Schmiederer was able to swing away.

And she produced her best swing of the game - a rocket to the center field fence where the ball rolled under for a ground-rule double allowing Sychowski to cross the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Hersey a dramatic 12-11 victory over visiting Rolling Meadows.

It was the Huskies' tenth 1-run game this season, giving them a 6-4 in those nail-biters.

Two others were in nine innings as well, a 5-4 win over Glenbrook South and an 8-7 loss to Wheeling.

"It's been a very exciting season," Schmiederer said. "It keeps us on toes and hopefully will help us for the playoffs."

Hersey coach Molly Freeman said the extra innings can only help her team which did not get to play its first two games of the week due to adverse field and weather conditions.

"This was awesome," Freeman said. "The more innings we get to play the better with the games we lost due to the weather. It was nice to make up for the lag we had this week."

And coming out with the win was a bonus.

"Angela has worked so hard on hitting the past four years," Freeman said "It's nice to see her do this her senior year. There is not a pitcher out there who intimidates her. She'll go after them all. For everything she puts into batting, she really deserves this."

Schmiederer also had a single in the Huskies' 6-run fifth inning and was robbed of another on a diving catch by Meadows center fielder Chloe Prodanovic.

Michelle Helminski went 3-for-5 for the Huskies (8-9-1), 2-4 while Jessica Schmiederer was 3-for-4 and freshman shortstop Katie Wingerer 2-for-5.

"This was fun," said Helminski, who had a key RBI in the 6-run fifth inning. "This really keeps our energy going for the next game."

Meadows (4-14, 1-6) showed its energy with its seventh-inning rally.

The Mustangs were down 11-5 and scored 6 runs to tie the game, getting RBI singles form Maddie Morgan, Jenny Watson and Lane Winkler in the big inning along with a bases-loaded walk to Elizabeth Vasilogambros.

Freshman pitcher Lydia Schultz, who came in relief of starter Lauren Hattory, also had a hit in the inning and was 2-for-3 in the game.

"Our kids have battled all season," said Mustangs coach Tony Wolanski. "They keep giving great effort. We just made some mistakes in that one inning (Hersey's fifth). We gave them a few too many outs and we just got to improve on that."

Morgan ended up 3-for-4 with 2 walks while batting leadoff for the visitors.

Morgan and Jordan Giachetti were on second and third base with one out in the top of the ninth when Huskies freshman southpaw Kaitlyn Denten escaped with a strikeout and groundout to first baseman Cassie Zouras (2-for-5).

Denten and junior Kim Labahn shared time on the mound for Hersey.

"Obviously it wasn't Kim's day but she and Kaitlyn are a team," Freeman said. "Kaitlyn picked up Kim. Tomorrow maybe it's Kim who picks up Kaitlyn."

Schultz entered the game with two outs in the Hersey fifth inning.

The freshman allowed 2 earned runs the rest of the way.

"Lydia came in a did a good job and she got 2 hits," Wolanski said "But give Hersey credit. Their girl (Angela Schmiederer) had the nice hit to end the game. Give Molly's kids credit. They jumped on us early. We've got to learn from our mistakes."