Softball: St. Charles North makes supersectional

Freshman Jillian Waslawski was a sprinter last fall for the St. Charles North swimming team.

Talk about making a splash on the varsity softball team a few months later.

Going up against a team which on Saturday set the record for home runs in a single season (66), Waslawski (13-4) pitched the No. 5 North Stars to a 3-2 victory in nine innings over top-seeded Schaumburg in the Class 4A sectional championship.

The North Stars (29-5) advanced to Monday's Rosemont supersectional to face Oak Park-River Forest (31-3) at 6:30 p.m.

Schaumburg finished one of the all-time best seasons by a Mid-Suburban League softball team with a 31-2 record that included a 30-game winning streak. The Saxons last loss was to the same North Stars, 6-2 in the second game of the season.

"Schaumburg is as good as it gets," said North Stars coach Tom Poulin whose team gave Saxons ace Paige Alt (5-hitter, 10 strikeouts) her only loss of the season in 22 decisions. "You are not going to go out and out and score 10 runs on them. I thought both teams played at a championship level. We were just fortunate to push across a run at the end."

Waslawski was only in fifth grade when Poulin guided the North Stars to second place in the 2011 state finals.

"She is only going to get stronger," Poulin said. "She is as composed as it gets, she is as confident as it gets."

And now she is the only freshman in program history to win a sectional championship game.

"It was a little hectic," Waslawski said. "But we had a plan and we stuck to it. Knowing my team has my back gets me through it."

The North Stars' defense hardly let any through.

Lightning-quick left fielder Jordyn Wolfe, who scored the winning run in the top of the ninth, made two outstanding catches on back-to-back shots by Michelle Birkholz and Roxy Kakareka in the bottom of the eighth.

First baseman Allison Moberg saved a run in the bottom of the sixth with a terrific diving grab of another hard-hit ball by Birkholz after Christina Candotti (2-for-4) had led off the inning with her second double of the game.

Just like Elk Grove fours days earlier, Schaumburg was robbed of more than one hit by the stellar defensive play of SCN.

"That's four games in a row where pitching and defense has really carried us," Poulin said.

Offensively, The North Stars struck first with 2 runs in the top of the third,

Junior Samantha Hausl led off with a walk, took second on Allison Hausl's sacrifice and came home on Amanda James' single to center.

James also made some top-notch plays at second base, including a grab of a liner for the for final out of the game with runners on first and second.

"We always back up Jillian," James said. "She had everything working this game. She was hitting her spots and just pitched a great game."

With two outs in the third inning, senior Kaitlyn Waslawski belted a solo inside-the-park homer down the right field line to give SCN its 2-0 lead.

Schaumburg answered with 1 run in bottom of the inning on a historic homer by Saxons catcher Elaine Walker.

Her one-out blast over the right field fence tied the state record for homers in a single season. It was her 24th and got the Saxons to within 2-1. That homer also broke Benet's state record of 65 homers set last spring.

The MSL champs evened the score in the bottom of the sixth.

After Moberg made the great catch at first to rob Birkholz, Roxy Kakareka reached on an infield error and Candotti raced home with two outs.

Jillian Waslawski escaped a big jam in the bottom of the seventh.

Walker singled sharply to right and went to second on Sarah Schwind's sacrifice bunt. Shannon Felde was intentionally walked.

Waslawski then made a nice play on grounder back to the mound for the second out as the runners advanced to second and third.

The chess match continued as Poulin chose to intentionally walk Candotti before Waslawski got the final out on a grounder to James.

It was all about executing this game and we didn't execute well enough," said Felde (3 walks), who wrapped up a stellar four-year career and will play for Illinois State. "We had such a great wining season, it was awesome. We knew they (SCN) had killer speed, and that hurt us. I told their girls after the game I expect them to go downstate and win."

Walker was the only Saxons with 2 hits. Natalie Napier was 1-for-2 with a sacrifice bunt and walk. Teammate Kaiden Jackson also had hit for Schaumburg, which was playing its first sectional since 1990, when Conant coach Cathyann Smith was the Saxons pitcher.

"We just fell a little short getting runs at times," said Saxons coach Ellen Abreu. "It was anyone's game at any given time. A run here or there could have made the difference.

"I'm just so proud to these girls and the records they set this season."

Alt's record was perfect going into the game and she was splendid in her only loss of the season.

"She is the best pitcher we've seen and we've seen some good one this season," Poulin said. "She handled our batters better than anyone.

"We stuck with it. Who knows? Another run by them and the game goes the other way. That's a credit to the mindset of our girls to stay with it all the way to the end."