Softball: Plenty of fight left in Fremd

Going up against Mid-Suburban League East leader Hersey on Monday, Fremd's softball team showed why it is still in the race for the MSL West crown.

The Vikings rallied from a 2-0 deficit to top the Huskies 4-2 in Palatine behind senior Nikki Kehoe's 4-hitter with 6 strikeouts.

"Nikki has been spectacular the last week and a half," said Fremd coach Josh Teschner. "Even in her win on Saturday (8-6 over South Elgin), the score looked a lot closer than it was. If not for errors, it was an 8-1 game against a great South Elgin team."

Fremd raised its record to 12-6 overall, and 5-3 in the West behind Barrington (10-0), Palatine (8-1) and Conant (6-3)

The Vikings will face Conant (10-6) at the Bandits Stadium in Rosemont at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"It was exciting, especially after losing to (Hersey) last year," said Kehoe who raised her record to 5-1. "We really wanted this one. We played well. We had strong defense and our bats came alive. Lexi (D'Ambrosio) and Jess (Mazur) really helped so that was good."

D'Ambrosio and Mazur, the Vikes' No. 3 and 4 hitters, were a combined 4-for-5 with 3 RBI and 3 extra-base hits.

Their back-to-back doubles to start the bottom of the got the Vikes on the board.

Four batters later, with two outs, sophomore McKenna Schneider singled to center to drive home Anna Freveletti with the tying run.

The Vikes came right back with the decisive 2 runs in the fifth inning.

Hannah Ban started the winning rally with a double to right center. After a strikeout by Hersey junior Brianna Luciano (9 strikeouts for the game), Mazur (2-for-3) connected for an RBI triple to right center scoring Ban.

Then it was D'Ambrosio's turn again. The senior catcher (2-for-2) came through with a sacrifice fly to center to get Mazur home for the 4-2 cushion.

"We talked about changing our approach at the plate as a team," Teschner said. "Things like how we looked at each at-bat and how each pitch matters. Jess and Lexi really dialed in that."

Mazur and shortstop Grace Stevens were really dialed in on defense in the final inning, when they teamed up for the first out. Stevens made nice grab of a tough hop and then Mazur made beautiful all-out stretch to make the catch.

"There is no question when you look at the heart and soul of the team, you've got the shortstop Grace Stevens and first baseman Jess Mazur," Teschner said. "They're two of the most important players on the team who seem to come up clutch every time you need them."

Hersey came up with the game's first 2 runs in the bottom of the second inning.

With two outs, Ria Patel reached on an error and Makayla Tsagalis followed with a single to left center.

Hannah Graff continued the two-out rally by dropping a single into shallow left field. An error on the play allowed both runners to score.

"I thought both defenses played well," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman, whose team (12-4, 6-3) is a half-game behind Prospect (7-3) in the MSL East. "We scored in only one inning and you can't just hit in one inning."

The Huskies were without all-area first baseman/pitcher Sarah Bailitz due to a family obligation.

"Missing Sarah's bat was unfortunate," said Freeman, "but I think we could have hit throughout the game had we not looked at so many pitches."

Tsagalis finished 3-for-4 and had a triple down the right field line in the seventh inning. Graff and Chloe Gordon had the other hits for Hersey.

"Makayla was great," Freeman added. "She has been working on her offense and she is really starting to see the rewards."