Softball: Elk Grove starts season with two wins

Elk Grove's 36th softball season under hall of fame coach Ken Grams got underway in dramatic fashion on Saturday.

The Grenadiers' first game of the year went down to the bottom of the ninth inning.

That's when senior third baseman Sarah Pauscher delivered a single to left with no outs to score junior Haley Itzenthaler from second base and give the Grens a 5-4 triumph over Mundelein at the Barrington quad.

EG (2-0) defeated Huntley in its second game at the Fields of Dreams, giving junior Sabra Morton her second win of the day.

Morton (4 strikeouts) went the final 3⅔ innings of the first game, relieving classmate Kylie Thomsen, who struck out six in the first 5⅓ innings.

In addition to scoring the winning run, Itzenthaler went 3-for-5 with a double. Senior Mackenzie Flannery was 2-for-4 and classmate Abbey Sloan contributed a double to the Grens' 9-hit attack.

Pauscher also had a sacrifice fly in the game giving her 2 RBI.

Morton tossed a 4-hitter with 2 strikeouts against Huntley.

Itzenthaler continued her hot hand, going 4-for-5 with 2 doubles.

Alex Masnica (2-for-4) and Thomsen (2-for-4) each belted home runs while Morton also went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Barrington sweeps: Like Elk Grove, Barrington (5-0) also started the day with a nail-biter in its own quad.

With two on, two outs and two strikes in the bottom of the seventh, senior Jamie Brown came through with a double to the right center gap.

The long drive scored junior Rachel Krzysko and sophomore Jenna Patino, who was pinch running and raced home from first base and crossed the plate for 5-4 victory over Huntley.

It was the second time in three games that Brown delivered a game-winning hit. She singled home the game-winner in an 8-7 triumph over Zion-Benton in the semifinals of the Barrington Spring Fling.

Sophomore Catherine Mcmahon earned the win by tossing a 6-hitter with 5 strikeouts.

Jenna Fingerman (2-for-3, home run) and Rachel Macdonald (2-for-3, walk) each had key hits to set up Brown's big double in the seventh.

McMahon (5-0) got her second win against Mundelein.

She went four innings in the 7-1 victory, striking out one. Classmate Caroline Hoppe threw the final three innings, striking out three.

Macdonald and Fingerman each had doubles while Abbey Jacobsen went 2-for-3 with an RBI and 2 runs.

Freshmen Leyden Atlas and Kendall Peterson collected their first career hits in their only at-bats of the game.