Softball: Pauscher powers Elk Grove past St. Charles North

With a berth in the Class 4A Sweet 16 on the line, senior Sarah Pauscher rather appropriately belted her 16th home run of the season to help lift No. 5 Elk Grove past top-seeded St. Charles North 3-2 on Thursday in the Schaumburg sectional semifinal.

Pauscher's 2-run blast on an 0-2 count to right-center field gave the Grens a 3-1 lead in the top of the sixth inning.

Elk Grove junior ace Kylie Thomsen then finished off her 17th win of the season against 4 losses to give the Grens a chance for their fifth sectional crown in 36 years under hall of fame coach Ken Grams.

The Mid-Suburban East champs (27-6) will take on No. 3-seeded St. Charles East (32-4) in Saturday's 11 a.m. championship game.

The game was tied 1-1 when Pauscher stepped into the batter's box with one out. Classmate and catcher Alex Masnica was on first base.

Masnica (1-for-3 with a double) had reached on a fielder's choice after the inning started on an infield hit by Haley Itzenthaler, who happened to be wearing jersey No. 16.

Then came Pauscher to the plate. She knew the ball was gone the minute she made contact.

"It felt awesome," said the senior third baseman who belted a single-season record 19 homers last spring. "It was an amazing feeling. My travel coach (Thijs Dennison of the Bartlett Silver Hawks) is the assistant on their (SCN) team. It was definitely my biggest home run of the season."

It gave the Grens the important 2-run cushion, which became quite meaningful when the North Stars pushed across a run in the bottom of the sixth.

Samantha Hausl's two-out double to right scored Amanda James before Thomsen got a big groundout to second baseman Itzenthaler to end the inning.

"Kylie was terrific," said Grams, whose terrific career saw him notch win No. 882. "She has grown into a really, really good pitcher the last month."

Thomsen (5 strikeouts) has helped the Grens continue to overcome adversity. When other teams have threatened, she has responded.

"It feels like I'm on a train that keeps going and isn't going to stop," she said. "I'm not going to lie. I had some nerves before the game but I talked to some of my teammates and they said, 'Just keep doing what you've been doing.'

"And their defense was insane (only 1 error). I love them so much. They back me up so well. I appreciate them so much."

One of those defensive players is senior shortstop Anna Bonder, who had the RBI single to center which scored Masnica to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The North Stars (23-6) had scored their run in the second inning with two outs when Hausl belted the first of her two doubles. She came home when Maddi Webb reached on an outfield error.

The North Stars got a leadoff double in the fourth inning but Thomsen came away unscathed with a groundout to Itzenthaler and a double play when center fielder Keeley Cronin caught a flyball and then threw to Masnica at the plate to catch the runner tagging up.

"It was amazing, I can't believe this," Bonder said of the Grens' tourney march. "Honestly we just play our own game no matter what seed the other team has."

It was the second time in four years the Grens have defeated a top seed in a sectional.

"We handed them a run (in the second inning) but we didn't fold," Grams said. "These kids have showed me most of the season that they don't let things deflate them.

"Especially in the last part of the season, adversity hasn't deterred them. They know what they're capable of. They've been terrific."

A year ago, Elk Grove lost 5-0 in the sectional semifinal to St. Charles North and Jillian Waslawski (12-4), who struck out three on Thursday.

Leading the Grens' 8-hit attack were Pauscher (2-for-3) and Cronin (2-for-3), who was robbed of a third hit on a diving catch by right fielder Alyssa Ebby in the top of the seventh.

"I thought Jillian was very good in the circle." said St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin. "I thought we were good on defense. We didn't make too many mistakes.

"But I thought we could have been better at the plate. We needed a few more timely hits."

Moberg (double) and Hausl each went 2-for-3 while Jordyn Wolf, James, Allison Hausl and Waslawski had the other hits.

Poulin was proud of his sixth varsity team at St. Charles North.

"Every team is good at the sectionals," he said. "They (Elk Grove) were a little better.

"First and foremost, these girls all cared for each other. The most important thing is that they all enjoy the memories. They won a conference championship and put themselves one game from a sectional championship. They've got a lot to be proud of."