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Softball: Thomsen, Elk Grove claim key East win at Hersey

Giving up a home run to the first batter you face is not the best way for a pitcher to begin.

And surrendering another long ball to the third batter can be mentally challenging.

But it wasn't going to faze Elk Grove's Kylie Thomsen.

All the junior right-hander did was come back and give up just 1 earned run the rest of the way, pitching her Grenadiers into the Mid-Suburban League championship softball game for the 14th time in 17 years.

Things got tense toward the end, but Thomsen got the big outs when she needed them and the visiting Grenadiers held on for a 6-5 victory over Hersey in the Mid-Suburban East.

The Grens improved to 20-3 and 10-3 in the East, giving them a 3-game lead in the loss column over second-place Hersey (14-11, 8-6) with three games left.

With an earlier win over Hersey, the tiebreaker locks up the Grens' berth in the title game. They can clinch an outright East crown with one more win.

Hersey trailed 6-2 but scored twice in the sixth and then got to within 6-5 in the seventh when Kim Labahn singled home Katie Wingerter with one out.

Pinch runner Maddie Flynn stole second but Thomsen registered 2 strikeouts to end the game and snap Hersey's six-game winning streak.

"I'm still shaking - I had so much energy going through my body," said Thomsen, who raised her record to 11-3 and finished with a career-high 14 strikeouts.

Freshman Makayla Tsagalis (2 RBI) hit the leadoff homer in the bottom of the first and Wingerter (2-for-4, double) clubbed her single-season school record 14th homer two batters later to give Hersey and freshman pitcher Sarah Bailitz (9-7) the 2-0 lead.

"They have some good hitters," Thomsen said. "Coach (Colleen) Mullaney (Grams' assistant) and I have a saying, 'stay within yourself,' and that's what I did."

With Thomsen holding down the Hersey bats in the middle innings, the Grens bats began to energize in the second inning when they scored five times.

Jessica Kearns, Carly Crothers and Haley Itzenthaler had RBI singles while Amy Pietruszyski belted an RBI double.

The fifth run came on catcher Alex Masnica's sacrifice fly to right which allowed Itzenthaler to tag up and score from third.

Thomsen helped herself in the third inning when she led off with a solo homer over the left-center field fence. It was homer No. 9 for Thomsen, matching the number on her jersey.

"Kylie was a bulldog today," said Grens coach Ken Grams. "She was tough.

"The first inning was tough on her but she battled back. I was very impressed with her mental approach. It was one of her stronger games in terms of that. She was in some tough spots and worked her way out."

Sarah Pauscher and Itzenthaler were the Grens' multiple hitters, each going to 2-for-4.

Pauscher doubled down the left field line with two outs in the seventh but Bailitz got the final batter on a groundout to second baseman Hannah Graff to close out the game with four scoreless inning.

Freshman Brianna Luciano, hitting in the No. 8 spot, went 3-for-3 for the Huskies, including a double in the second inning and an RBI double in the sixth.

"It was a great game," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman. "Our kids have a ton of heart. I'm very proud of them and would go to battle with them any time. They come to play every game."

The Grens defeated Hersey 7-4 the first time in East play.

"We had two close games with them," Thomsen said. "We had to really dig deep and push hard."

"Once they scored those 2 runs right away, there were some nerves, a little bit of anxiety," Pauscher said. "But we just started to drive ourselves harder because we really wanted to win the East championship."

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