Softball: Buffalo Grove holds off Meadows
For the past four falls, Katie Fontanetta and Grace Gran have been teeing it up in coach Matt Myers' girls golf program.
On Friday, the Buffalo Grove seniors teed up the softball for coach Starr Dorsey.
Hitting back to-back in the batting order, they each went 3-for-4 to provide more than half of Buffalo Grove's 10 hits in an 11-8 Mid-Suburban East triumph over visiting Rolling Meadows.
The Bison hung on at the end as Meadows loaded the bases with two outs in the top of seventh trailing 11-8.
But freshman relief pitcher Megan Fontanetta got the game's final putout on a tag play to give BG its 12th win in 24 games.
Senior Alyssa DePhillips went the first five innings to earn the win and Megan Fontanetta gained the save.
"That was crazy," said Katie Fontanetta about the high-scoring win. "But we needed that. It's been pretty much up and down all season and we finally came through. We made some errors that cost us but we battled back from it.
"It's nice that we have two pitchers who can pick each other up and finish up for each other."
Also finishing a four-year varsity career this spring for Buffalo Grove is senior Jasmine Avalos, who caught the freshman (Megan Fontanetta) and senior (DePhillips) pitchers.
"We had to stick her (Avalos) behind the plate and she has really transitioned well back there," Dorsey said of the Bison former third baseman who will play softball at the Milwaukee School of Engineering. "She is really a good leader and moves around well back there. She is working hard for Alyssa and Megan, for sure."
Katie Fontanetta and Gran worked hard to move their teammates around the bases.
No. 3 hitter Gran had a RBI double and two RBI singles while No. 2 Katie Fontanetta collected a RBI double and a RBI single.
"Grace is starting to hit the ball again," Dorsey said. "She has gotten a lot more comfortable at the plate and Katie has just been steady all season. She's really coming through in the clutch, especially with runners on base."
"It was a great team win," said Gran, who plans to study special education at Illinois State. "Everyone contributed and did their role."
Junior Katelyn O'Rourke had a 2-run single in the first inning and went 2-for-4. Bailey Williams and Olivia Morini also had hits for BG (12-12, 4-8).
"We've lost some leads, especially in conference games, in the seventh inning so it was nice to hang on this lead in the top of seventh," Dorsey said." Megan came in and got it done on the mound. Alyssa started it off and did a great job until they started to get some hits. Megan came in and battled hard to get the save."
Meadows (6-20, 1-11) rallied from 4-0 deficit to grab a 5-4 lead in the top of the fourth on Parker Cavanaugh's second homer of her career.
BG answered with 3 in the bottom of the inning, getting RBI singles from Katie Fontanetta and Gran and a sacrifice fly to left by Avalos to score Fontanetta. O'Rourke and Kylee Gucwa scored runs earlier in the inning for BG, which went ahead 7-5.
Meadows regained the lead at 8-7 with 4 runs in the top of the sixth, sparked by Gran's double to center field. Lauren Beiersdorf's RBI fielder's choice made it 11-8.
Meadows pitcher Lydia Schultz (2-for-4) led off the top of the seventh with a single. Elizabeth Elkins drew a one-out walk before BG shortstop Gran made a nice over-the-shoulder catch of a popup for the second out.
Stephanie Thompson reached on an error to load the bases before Megan Fontanetta escaped the jam.
Meadows sophomore Sam Allen belted her first career home run in the second inning and went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI.
Cavanaugh, who also had a double with her home run and Amanda Elkins (RBI) each went 3-for-5 for Meadows.
Mallory King and Elizabeth Elkins also had hits for the Mustangs.
"We battled back but we made too many mistakes," said Meadows coach Tony Wolanski. "We battled but we can't make the mental mistakes. We've all got to do a better job, the coaches and the players, and that's what we are working on."