Softball: Hersey, Palatine, St. Viator in regional finals
Hersey's softball team picked up right where it left off one day earlier and never looked back in a 9-0 victory over Glenbrook North in Thursday's semifinal of the Class 4A Mundelein regional.
In a game suspended from Wednesday, Hersey came to the plate already leading 1-0 with one out in the third inning.
The Huskies added 4 more runs in the inning and freshman pitcher Sarah Bailitz (11-9) took care of the rest by completing a 4-hitter with 4 strikeouts and only 1 walk.
Top hitters for the Huskies were Kaitlyn Denten (4-for-4, double), Katie Wingerter (2-for-4, 2 doubles), Hannah Graff (2-for-4) and Jackie Bednar (2-for-3).
The Huskies (18-14) will face host Mundelein for the championship of the regional on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Palatine 6, Grayslake Central 1: Sophomore Maddie Craver (10-6) struck out a season-high 12 to earn the win in the semifinals of the Mundelein Class 4A regional.
Thursday's game against No. 6-seeded Grayslake Central resumed from Wednesday with No. 11 Palatine leading 4-0 in the second inning.
The Pirates (12-16) will face No. 3 Warren for the championship at 3:30 p.m. Friday.
Top hitters for Palatine were Grace Huff (4-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs, 2 stolen bases) and Emily Parrott (2-for-3, 1 run).
The Pirates built on their 4-0 lead from Wednesday by scoring one more run in the fourth and seventh innings.
Huff started the fourth with a single and stole second. Craver's single up the middle scored Huff.
The Pirates' run in the seventh came on singles by Reggie Much and Huff.
St. Viator 11, Northside 4: Junior Jenna Breslin went 3-for-4 with 2 home runs, a double and 5 RBI as No. 7 seed St. Viator won the semifinal of its own Class 3A regional over No. 9 Northside (Chicago).
The Lions (12-20) will face No. 2 Antioch for the championship at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Arlington Heights.
Breslin now has 9 home runs, a single-season school record.
"Jenna works very hard on her hitting," said Lions coach John Scotillo. "Two things about those homers, they are timely and they were not cheap. I am very happy for her."
Other top hitters for the Lions were winning pitcher Meg Naughton (2-for-4, 2 doubles), Cam VanValkenburg (2-for-3, walk), Haley Robinson (2-for-4, double) and Adeline Swiderski (2-for-2, double, walk, hit by pitch).
Seniors Olivia Michalik and Catherine Hafner also had doubles for Viator, which scored 6 runs in the first inning and its other five in the bottom of the sixth.