Softball: Hersey, St. Viator, Leyden win regional crowns
The most prolific home run hitter in Hersey softball history hit two of her biggest in Saturday's championship game of the Loyola Class 4A regional.
Senior shortstop Katie Wingerter belted No. 19 and 20 and collected 7 RBI to help the No. 4 seeded Huskies to a come-from-behind 13-8 victory over No. 5 Carmel in Glenview.
The Huskies (24-7) advance to Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. New Trier sectional semifinal at Duke Childs Field in Winnetka against top-seeded Libertyville.
Wingerter's grand slam tied the game at 6-6 in the bottom of the third inning.
The Northern Illinois recruit, who has a school record 44 career homers, belted a 2-run blast in the Huskies' 7-run sixth inning which gave them a 13-6 lead before Carmel scored twice in the top of the seventh.
Hersey trailed 4-0 and 6-2 in the game.
"It's a great group of girls," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman, who has guided the Huskies to back-to-back regional crowns after a drought of 23 years. "They work hard and never quit. They just kept going and going and going like they have all season."
Wingerter (3-for-4), Hannah Graff (3-for-4), Maddie Flynn (2-for-4, RBI), Sofia Cano (2-for-3), Makayla Tsagalis (2-for-4) led the offensive attack for Hersey while sophomore Sarah Bailitz (12-2) earned the win, walking only one batter in seven innings.
"She threw a lot of first-pitch strikes and worked ahead of batters," Freeman said. "When you do that and you are in control, it makes things a lot easier."
The Huskies won their first Mid-Suburban League division title since 1995 two week ago.
"They are proud of every accomplishment they get," Freeman said. "They just continue to battle and want to leave their legacy."
St. Viator 2, Vernon Hills 0: St. Viator won its second regional championship in school history.
The Lions' first one came in 2010 when their current assistant coach Julie Sweeney was the winning pitcher.
The No. 4 seeded Lions will play No. 1 Antioch in the Sequoits' own Class 3A sectional on Tuesday at 4:30 p.m.
Saturday's St. Viator Class 3A regional title game featured three double plays and outstanding pitching.
The Lions scored first when leadoff batter Cam VanValkenburg drew a walk and went to second on a sacrifice by Haley Robinson. VanValkenburg took third on a single by Nicole Ardito (2 hits) and scored on Grace Kaiser's RBI single.
Fifth-seeded Vernon Hills ended the threat by converting a soft liner into a double play.
St. Viator extended its lead in the second when Cece Kaiser singled with one out and advanced to second on a ground out. Cara Haubner delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 2-0.
Vernon Hills freshman pitcher Madison Johnson retiring the next 13 of the 14 batters.
"This was a total team effort today'" said Lions coach John Scotillo. " We had just enough hitting and our pitcher (Kaiser) and defense took over the game."
After a leadoff single by Vernon Hills in the second inning, Lions' catcher Adeline Swiderski grabbed a popped up bunt and doubled the runner off first.
ln the fourth inning, Swiderski threw out a runner stealing.
ln the fifth, the Lions turned another double play when shortstop Aryana Ziakas grabbed a grounder, stepped on second base and threw to first.
Grace Kaiser, who scattered 3 hits while striking out seven 7 with 2 walks, went on to retire the last seven in a row.
Leyden 5, Whitney Young 2: With the game tied at 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, No. 7-seeded Leyden scored three times and added another run in the seventh to win the championship of the Class 4A St. Ignatius College Prep regional over the No. 2 Dolphins (28-5).
It marks the eighth regional title for Leyden and fourth under coach Kurt Schuett, who won three straight from 2010 to 2012.
Leyden, which outhit Whitney Young 10-5, advances to Wednesday's 4:30 p.m. semifinals of the Niles North sectional and will face No. 6 Lane Tech.
Lake Park 9, Schaumburg 7: A grand slam by senior pitcher Michelle Birkholz highlighted the Saxons' 5-run fourth inning but Lake Park rallied with 6 runs in the bottom of the sixth to win its own Class 4A semifinal.
The No. 8-seeded Lancers (17-16) will face No. 1 St. Charles East in Monday's 11 a.m. championship.
No. 9 Schaumburg closed its season at 13-16.
Cate Poplar went 3-for-4 with a RBI while Rachel Kissamis was 2-for-3 with 1 run. Natalie Napier (double), Kaiden Jackson, Alex Cook and Talia Torosian also had hits for the Saxons.