St. Viator 3, Hersey 1

Julie Sweeney and Emily Catanese are three classes apart at St. Viator.

But the freshman and senior were on the same page on Monday.

Sweeney's bat and Catanese's arm played key roles for the No. 18-seeded Lions softball team, which posted a 3-1 victory over No. 15 and host Hersey in the Class 4A Fremd regional quarterfinal game.

The Lions (7-22) advance to today's 4:30 p.m. semifinal to face No. 2 seed Fremd (26-3) on the Vikings' diamond.

Lions head coach Dan Twarog is expected back from Washington, D.C. after missing Monday's game because of a work commitment.

The players were text messaging their coach minutes after the game with the good news.

What Twarog missed was a 3-run homer by Sweeney in the top of the fifth, which was all Catenese (4-7) would need as the right-hander threw a 4-hitter with 6 strikeouts.

Sweeney's towering two-out blast to left center -- her third home run -- came with runners on first (Lauren Banazcak, who had singled) and second (Melanie Slawny, who reached on a fielder's choice following a base hit by Danielle Sipiora).

"In my first 2 at-bats the first 2 pitches were strikes, so I said this time I was going hit the ball hard and drive in some runs on the first pitch," said Sweeney, who went 3-for-3. "It's a big thrill. I'm so glad the people in front of me got on base."

"Julie has come up big all season," said Viator assistant John Scotillo, who was filling in for Twarog. "All these kids have worked so hard all season, including Emily. She worked hard in the winter, too. I'm just so happy for her and the way we played defense behind her."

Catanese got out of the sixth when shortstop Jess Etchingham caught a liner and then fired to first for a double play.

"Danielle (Sipiora, the Lions catcher) called a great game for me," said Catanese, who graduated Sunday and will study at the University of Iowa. "And my defense really helped me."

Hersey's run came in the fourth on left fielder Melanie Standish's infield hit with the bases loaded and two outs.

Jessie Harris started the rally with a double to left center. Alyssa Kiefer was hit by a pitch and Sarah Laughlin had an infield hit to load the bases.

Hersey (9-22) defeated St. Viator 4-0 on May 1.

"We had some costly baserunning mistakes again," said Hersey first-year coach Molly Freeman. "I didn't think we played with as much emotion as we needed.

"I'm really excited about the future. And I am in debt to these seniors (pitcher Mallory Donoghue, who struck out five, catcher Danielle Gore, second baseman Maggie Tunney, center fielder Lynn Lazzeretti and Standish) who set the groundwork."

Sophomore Abby Dickey had a double for the Lions while teammate Tori Lenart reached base twice after being hit by pitches.