Softball: With honors, Libertyville proceeds to sectional final

Hannah Heraty was in a hurry to leave Duke Childs Field in Winnetka.

She and her fellow seniors on the Libertyville softball team had to transition from their softball uniforms to cap and gowns for graduation Tuesday night at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates.

But the Dayton-bound Heraty was still kind enough to give the media some time before departing.

After all, the time she had spent in the pitcher's circle and batter's box had her leaving with a smile.

Heraty threw a 6-hitter with 3 strikeouts and no intentional walks.

She also belted a 3-run triple in the bottom of the sixth inning to help lead her top-seeded Wildcats to an 8-5 victory over No. 4 Hersey (24-8) in the semifinals of the Class 4A New Trier sectional.

The Wildcats (29-5) will face the winner of today's game between No. 2 Warren and No. 3 Palatine for the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday.

"It's exciting," said Heraty after pitching the Wildcats to single-season school-record tying 29th win. "I'm looking forward to getting my diploma and seeing all my friends."

She saw to it on Tuesday to do her best to stifle the Hersey bats, which came to life late with 2 runs in the fifth and 3 in the seventh.

"Hannah did a really good job controlling everything and controlling her emotions," said Libertyville coach Elissa Wisniewski. "And she came through at the end with her bat when we really needed the extra runs."

After one of four intentional walks to Hersey standout Katie Wingerter, Remy Gerew's 2-run single up the middle got the Huskies to within 4-2 in he top of the fifth inning.

But Heraty answered with a 3-run triple to right center in the sixth. She came home on Lyndsey's RBI single to make it 8-2.

"I knew with the bases-loaded, two outs and a 3-1 count, that if it the ball was there, I was going to swing as hard I as could," Heraty said. "I did, and I guess it paid off.

"I just wanted to do it for my teammates because they were doing a great job in the field for me."

Heraty improved to 25-5, as she did not let any batter get more than 1 hit.

"I was really focusing on keeping the ball low and hitting my spots," she said. "Sarah (Hoyer, junior catcher) was doing a great job back there, blocking everything."

And Heraty was quite aware of the game-changing abilities of Wingerter, who has more than 40 career home run at Hersey.

"She's a great hitter," Heraty said. "So we wanted to be careful and smart about it."

"We knew coming in that their No. 3 hitter (Wingerter) had done a lot of damage throughout the season," Wisniewski said. "If we were going to lose, it wasn't going to be because of her. So we chose to walk her the whole game and we did a good job executing that. Our defense stepped up and got the next ours for the most part."

Wingerter has become accustomed to being pitched around.

"I've never really been walked until this season," she said. "Maybe the first two times it happened, I was frustrated because I was like, 'I want to hit. I want to hit the ball.' But ultimately playing on a team is learning how to be a team player and teamwork. Whenever they walked me, I wouldn't mind. That's a runner on base and a potential run to help my team."

"It's tough (the intentional walks) but she's seen it all season," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman. "Katie is a player. She understands the game and the strategy of it She understands her role in that position is to be a baserunner and hopefully to get her teammates to score her."

Remy Gerew delivered right on time with her 2-run single in the fifth when the walk to Wingerter loaded the bases with two outs.

The same situation happened in the third inning and Gerew lined out to short.

"Remy has been in that position many times this season," Freeman said. "And I'm proud of the her for sticking with it. It's a tough spot but she has a lot of maturity, a lot of guts and a lot of confidence in every game."

Wingerter, who collected 7 RBI with 2 homers in Hersey's regional championship win over Carmel, praised her teammate Gerew.

"When I'm walked and get to first base, jacked up and ready to go," she said. "That's all can do if that's how they're going to play it. Remy had some great swings. She hit one hard to the shortstop and then had the one up the middle for 2 runs. You can't ask anything more."

Freeman went with sophomore pitchers Sarah Bailitz (first 2⅓ innings) and Brianna Luciano (final 3⅔ innings).

Both teams had 6 hits. But Libertyville took advantage of 6 walks - the Wildcats drew at least 1 in every inning they scored.

"We've averaged a few too may walks this season," Freeman said. "Next season, our goals for our pitchers will be to cut down on them. If we didn't have them today, we could have had a different outcome. Other than that, we were dynamite today."

"These girls deserved to be here. I've stressed their chemistry all season long. They just like to be around each other."

The Huskies enjoyed their winningest season under Freeman in 10 years.

"Oh my gosh, I will remember all the relationships," Wingerter said. "This team has been here for me for my highs and lows. They were there for me when I was struggling and it was really a family. We all love each other and they'll be in my hearts forever."

Heraty was the only multiple hitter for Libertyville, going 2-for-3 with her 4 RBI.

Junior Franny Quenan produced an RBI triple in the bottom of the third while Maggie Evers and Lauren Heraty had RBI singles.

Junior Emily Hilldale (2 walks), senior Sam Hilldale (1 walk) and senior Kenzie Rother (1 walk) each scored a run for the Wildcats.

"I'm so proud of our seniors," Hoyer said. "This was a perfect way for them to head off for graduation."

"I thought getting the lead early and controlling their top part of the order were the keys," Wisniewski added. "They (Hersey) did a great job coming back at the end. We tell our girls all the time you've got to play all 21 outs because no one is going to lay down for you no matter what the score is."