Elk Grove clinches East outright

The Mid-Suburban East's top home run hitting team may not have belted one out of the park on Saturday but Elk Grove's softball players were quite a mighty hit on Saturday.

Not only did the Grenadiers capture a 6-2 victory over Prospect on Senior Day, they also clinched the MSL East title outright on their home field.

Seniors Brianna Leach and Marjorie Sloan celebrated their day with 3 hits apiece as the Grens improved to 25-7 and 11-4, giving them the title over runner-up Buffalo Grove (16-7, 8-6), which has only two games remaining.

It is Elk Grove's 21st divisional title since 1981 under Hall of Fame coach Ken Grams and second in four years.

"Oh my gosh, this feels amazing," said Sloan, who will join classmate Shannon Taucher as teammates for the College of DuPage softball team next spring. "I haven't been to this championship game since freshman year so it feels great to go back my senior year."

Sloan was 3-for-4 with a key 2-run single in the Grens' 4-run second inning from which Prospect could never recover - although the Knights did make things interesting all the way.

"We knew we were facing a good pitcher (Delilah Malczewski, who is 4-9)," added Sloan, who has 2 of the Grens' school-record 52 home runs. "She threw well and made it close game all the way."

Leach, who came into the game as one of the league's top hitters, didn't miss a beat by going 3-for-5 and scoring the game's first run.

She also made a nifty diving catch in right field to take away a hit from Emily Saenz.

"We've all worked so hard for this (East title)," said Leach, who will study at Bowling Green.

"We wanted to make sure there would be no tie for first and we wanted to win so bad for our Senior Day."

Junior Alex Masnica's 2-run single in the second inning proved to be the game-winnig RBI when it gave EG a 2-0 lead just before Sloan's single made it 4-0.

Elk Grove hosted the game but was the visitor on the scoreboard. That's because the game was supposed to be on Prospect's unplayable field, which was unplayable due to rain.

The Grens went ahead 5-0 in the top of the fifth.

Sloan doubled sharply to right-center field and scored on Taucher's single, also to right-center.

But the Knights, who were getting runners on base with regularity and collected 10 hits in the game, didn't go down without a fight.

They scored first in the fifth when freshman Alyssa Cacini belted her third homer, a leadoff blast that easily cleared the center field fence.

The Knights proceeded to get two runners on base with two outs before pitcher Sabra Morton got the final out on a strikeout.

In the sixth, the Knights got to within 5-2 on Rachel Trebswether's bases-loaded groundout to third which scored Lauren Caldrone (2-for-4).

Senior Casey Lenski (2-for-4, double) then rifled a shot right at center fielder Sloan that could have been big trouble if it were to either gap.

Junior Anna Bonder (6-0) started and closed to pick up the win. She got out of a seventh-inning jam, too.

Ally Schuldt and Erica Nelson put together back-to-back one out singles but Bonder got a fly out to Leach and groundout to third baseman Sarah Pauscher who threw to Taucher at first for the game's final out.

The Knights (10-15, 5-10) left two runners on base in every inning but the fourth.

"We just couldn't come up with one more hit in those situations," said Prospect coach Jim Adair. "We needed that extra hit.

"Delilah pitched a great game. She has been pitching great. They had us in some difficult spots but she was able to handle their big hitters."

EG scored its final run in the seventh when Abbey Sloan singled to center with one out to score her sister Marjorie.

The Grens left two runners on base when Bonder got the final batter on a groundout to Lenski at first.

"Both teams left a lot of runners on base," Grams said. "But I am happy with our kids. The seniors can enjoy their day and now we can relax a little until Thursday (and the MSL championship game, vs. Schaumburg at Elk Grove).

"Our maintenance guys did a great job to get the field ready and I'm glad we were able to play."