Softball: Suspense delayed: Conant, Fremd tied 5-5

Fremd and Conant entered their Mid-Suburban West softball showdown on Friday at 4:30 p.m. as the only remaining undefeated teams in the conference.

When they left the field at 7:20 p.m., both teams were still unbeaten.

After 10 innings, the two area powerhouses were tied 5-5 when the game was suspended because of darkness.

It will resume Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. back on the Cougars diamond in Hoffman Estates.

Conant (9-1, 5-0) led 4-0 after five innings but Fremd (14-0, 5-0) rallied for 4 runs in the top of the sixth.

Conant regained the lead at 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth.

Senior catcher Dream Aaron (2-for-4) led off with a blast over the left center field fence for her second homer of the season.

But the Vikings refused to surrender.

Senior first baseman Julia Wacker, recently honored as a member of the 2016 IHSA all-academic team, showed her smarts with the bat. She led of the seventh by clubbing the game-tying home run to center field on a 3-2 pitch.

The Vikings kept threatening and had two runners on base with two outs when Conant ace Sara Neuman (7-0) got out of a jam with a strikeout.

Neuman had 12 strikeouts when the game was suspended while Fremd ace Nikki Kehoe (10-0) had 10.

Conant got on the board with its first run in the first inning when Lauren Grzelak (2-for-4) led off with a single to center and came home on Morgan Bihun's one-out double to left center.

The Cougars added 2 runs in the fourth when sophomore Makenna McCarthy led off with her second homer in as many games. She hit the first pitch she saw over the left center field fence. The Cougars' second run came when Grzelak singled and Delaney Szwed raced home on an error on the play.

Sydney Correa's single in the fifth inning led to Bihun racing home for a 4-0 lead.

Fremd then began its big 4-run rally when Wacker and AnnMarie O'Sullivan drawing back-to-back walks.

Sophomore Jessica Mazur then belted a 3-run blast over the left center field fence to make it 4-3.

Kylie Hess followed with a bunt single and went to second on Reagan Schneider's sacrifice bunt.

A dropped third strike allowed the Vikes to load the bases and Abby Iuorio came up with an infield hit to score Hess from third for the 4-4 tie.

Neuman then came up with a big strikeout to keep the score tied.

Fremd's Becca Uhrich and Alyssa Garcia each have a triple in the game.

"We know there is no quit in our kids," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. "The comeback was nice but we have to play better. If you talk to the kids, they will tell you they are not very happy with how they played. But it's nice to still be in the game."

Conant coach CathyAnn Smith knew the game would be tough.

"We knew both teams would be eager to win and there were some big innings on both sides," Smith said. "Fremd has some great quickness and kids who can hit it over the fence. You can never let down against them. You've got to leave it all out on the field."