Elk Grove goes long against South Elgin
Known for years as a masterful small-ball team, Elk Grove has used the longball for a lot of offense in recent years.
The Grenadiers' opening game of the Fremd Class 4A regional was no exception.
Elk Grove's record-setting home run season saw the number increase to 55 as sophomore Kylie Thomsen belted 2 homers and junior Sarah Pauscher had 1 en route to a 10-5 comeback victory over No. 10 South Elgin.
No. 6-seeded Elk Grove (27-8) will face No. 3 Fremd (26-6) in the Vikings' regional final on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Palatine
The Grens rallied from a 5-4 deficit by scoring 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning on a 2-run homer Sarah Pauscher. It was the third baseman's school-record 18th of the season.
Thomsen, who pitched the first 4⅔ innings, belted her seventh and eight homers of the season and collected 5 RBI while going 2-for-3.
She had a 2-run blast in the second inning and 3-run homer in the 4-run sixth inning which capped the scoring.
Junior Anna Bonder (7-0) threw the final 2⅓ innings to earn the win.
Other multiple hitters for Elk Grove were Brianna Leach, Haley Itzenthaler and Aleece Duffy, who all went 2-for-4.
Palatine 2, Loyola 1: Maddie Craver (2-for-3, 1 run, stolen base, RBI) and Ellie Kozlowski (1-for-3, double, 1 run) had the only hits for No. 11 seeded Palatine which edged No. 8 Loyola in the Pirates' Class 4A regional semifinal.
The Pirates (12-19) will face top-seeded Warren in the championship game at 11 a.m. on Saturday.
The Pirates scored in the first and second innings.
Freshman Maddie Craver led off the game with a hit, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Cassie Kerlin, stole third and scored on a passed ball.
In the second inning, senior Ellie Kozlowski reached on a walk and came home on Craver's line-drive single to right center.
Loyola had runners on first and second with no outs in the fourth inning. The next two Ramblers hit ground balls in the 6-5 hole and shortstop Craver fielded both and threw to third baseman Emily Griffin both times for the force out. The next batter then flew out to left fielder Kozlowski.
Loyola scored in the sixth on a sacrifice fly to right. The Ramblers still had runners on base when senior center fielder Maria Howell made terrific catch.
Their Ramblers threatened again in the seventh.
Craver, second baseman Kerlin and junior third baseman Emily Griffin all made plays in the bottom of the seventh inning as Palatine sealed the win.
Lake Zurich 1, Buffalo Grove 0: No. 9-seeded Lake Zurich scored the game's only run in the top of the fourth inning to win the semifinal of the Class 4A Buffalo Grove regional. The No. 5 seeded Bison closed out the season at 17-9.
Libertyville 5, Hersey 4: No. 3 seeded Libertyville edged No. 14 Hersey (11-19) in the regional semifinal of the Wildcats' Class 4A regional.
St. Viator 12, DePaul College Prep 0 (5 inn): No. 8 seeded St. Viator defeated the host school (No. 8 seed DePaul College Prep) in the semifinals of the Class 3A regional in five innings and will face Carmel in Saturday's championship at 10 a.m. at North Park University.
St. Viator's Adeline Swiderski drove in 3 runs, including two with a double off the top of the fence in left field.
Teammates Catherine Hafner had a pair of doubles and Aryana Ziakas drove in 2 runs.
Lions pitcher Grace Kaiser threw a 1-hitter and also had 3 hits at the plate.
"My teammates made some great plays to keep them from scoring," Kaiser said.
Center fielder Krystal Harris made two nice running catches while right fielder Hafner threw out a runner from trying to go from first base to third.
The defensive highlight was a game-ending double play started by second baseman Olivia Michalik. With the bases loaded, she charged a one-hopper, tagged the runner going by and threw to first to end the game.