Book it: Schaumburg's lineup can hit

From top to bottom in the batting order, the Schaumburg softball team was on the right page Wednesday.

And the Saxons certainly had the right Paige on the mound.

Junior right-hander Paige Alt, already committed to the College of Georgia Coastal in Brunswick, Ga, raised her record to sterling 8-0 with a 6-3 victory at Fremd on Wednesday.

Senior Shannon Felde's seventh homer of the season, a 2-run blast to left center in the third inning gave the visitors a 3-0 lead.

With the score tied 3-3 in the top of the sixth, Saxons No. 7 hitter Michelle Birkholz (2-for-3) and No. 9 hitter Kaiden Jackson had RBI singles followed by a two-out RBI double by Aurora University-bound Elaine Walker (2-for-4) to left center for the 6-3 lead.

"We don't doubt anyone in our lineup," Alt said of the clutch hitting. "We have power all the way through. If it's the bottom of the order coming up, we know it will come through in big situations."

Alt came through in big situations, too.

Fremd had runners on the corners with one in the bottom of the sixth.

But Alt got a pop out to catcher Walker and struck out the next batter to strand both runners.

In the seventh, she retired the side in order as Schaumburg improved to 15-1 and 6-0 in the Mid-Suburban League West, a half-game ahead of Conant (5-0).

"I was just focusing on hitting my spots." said Alt, who struck out four and walked one. "I know many teammates are going to back me up."

Shortstop Felde (2-for-4), an Illinois State recruit, sure did.

In the first inning, she made a nice stab to her left of Julie Josten's hard-liner, then threw to first baseman Christina Candotti (Butler recruit) to double up a runner for the second out.

In the last inning, Felde made a nice backhand to take away a hit from Reagan Schneider and then threw to Candotti for the first out.

Alt followed by getting a groundout to second baseman Birkholz (2-for-3) and then a grounder back to the mound that she cleanly fielded and threw to first.

"Paige has been solid all season," said Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu, who starred on the Fremd diamond as a four-year starter pitcher for the Vikings.

"Everyone is contributing. Shannon had a big day at shortstop with two big plays. It was a just a good game for us, We were focused and didn't let some defensive errors affect our play."

Fremd fought back after the 3-0 deficit, scoring all 3 of its runs in the bottom of the fourth.

For the second straight day, freshman designated player Jessica Mazur drove home the Vikes' first run.

This time, it was a line drive RBI single to left to score Alyssa Garcia.

With two outs, Becca Uhrich (2-for-3 as the only Viking with multiple hits) belted a 2-tun single to left to tie the game.

"Becca had a great day," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. "She had good quality at-bats and she played a good second base."

Schneider and Kylie Hess had the other hits for Fremd, which is now 14-2 and 4-1 in the MSL West. Vikings freshman Nikki Kehoe (6-1) struck out two and walked only one in 5⅔ innings. Reliever Lea Barrett retired all four batters she faced, including a strikeout in the seventh inning.

"We made some mistakes that we normally don't make offensively and defensively," Weaver said. "So this was a good barometer to show us things we have to work on. I saw some good and not-so -good things.

"Schaumburg deserved to win. They outplayed us. So we will make some corrections to get better and keep moving forward."