Carmel 2, Fremd 1

Senior catcher Kelly Gerli said she could have cried.

Thanks to her towering home run to center field in the top of the seventh inning, she and her Carmel softball teammates probably did shed a few tears of joy about an hour later.

Trailing 1-0 and showing few signs of life on offense, Gerli swung at the first pitch in the seventh and belted it over the centerfield fence for her fifth home run of the season.

Three innings later, No. 8 hitter Michelle Winegard dashed home from second base on an infield error in the top of the 10th and the No. 12-seeded Corsairs held on for a 2-1 triumph over No. 2 Fremd in the semifinals of the Class 4A Barrington sectional at the Fields of Dreams.

Carmel (16-17) will try to win a second straight sectional title when it faces top-seeded Barrington (28-6) at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Gerli was a hero in last year's sectional semifinal final win over Johnsburg when she also belted a home run.

Thursday's blast came after Fremd sophomore ace Lena Brottman (18 strikeouts) had struck out 15 through six innings and given up just a bunt single to Caitlin Hendricks (3-for-5) with two outs in the sixth.

"I almost cried because I was like 'Hey, we're back in the game,'" Gerli said. "I was a little upset at my previous at-bats (2 strikeouts). I just wanted to belt it and I did."

Corsairs sophomore ace Rachel Tack, now 7-1 in postseason play, went all 10 innings, striking out six while retiring the side in order in the eighth and ninth innings.

The Corsairs provided her the winning run in the top of the 10th when Winegard singled to left with one out, got to second on Hendricks' infield hit and scored when Claire Anastos reached on an infield error.

Winegard never stopped running from second base and made a nifty slide at the plate to beat the throw.

"You've got to take chances this time of the year when you're playing great teams," said Carmel coach Jason Raymond of sending Winegard home.

Three of Gerli's 5 homers have been line drives this spring.

"Oh my gosh," Raymond said. "She is just clutch. She usually hits line drives but she got this one up and that's what we needed with the high fence here (at the Fields of Dreams).

"Brottman really brings it and the first couple of times through the order we couldn't get anything going. But our girls kept battling."

Brottman (21-3) and Tack (14-10) were perfect through 4 innings before Fremd's Lauren Zaworski led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to center.

After a popout, Jenny Schneider's sacrifice bunt got Zaworski to second and the Vikings sophomore second baseman came home on an outfield error on Tess Dinterman's fly ball.

"Credit must go to their pitcher," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver, who guided the Vikings to their fifth sectional in seven years. "That's as well as anyone has pitched against us all season. And we had her scouted and we were prepared.

"We hit the ball well but we had some line drives right at them. I'm proud of how we played. We had good defense and good swings. We had quality at-bats. We took care of the things we could control."

The Vikings return seven sophomore starters and one junior.

"We're going to have to work harder," Weaver said. "This was probably the best softball team to come through Fremd and I'm not ready to think about next year yet because I'm going to miss our seniors (Stacey Stutzman, Devoni Jorgensen, Marybeth Wesoloski, Brittany Borst and Mary Esposito).

"This hurts. But like coach (assistant T.J) Valacak said, if losing this game is the worst thing to happen to these kids, then they've had pretty nice lives. "

In Fremd's last at-bat, junior Jessica Tackett singled to right-center with one out and pinch runner Esposito went to second when Kristine Werling drew a two-out walk.

But Tack got a groundball back to the mound and threw to first baseman Shea Crowley for the final out.

Carmel will play Barrington in a postseason game for the second straight season. The Fillies topped the Corsairs in last year's Mundelein supersectional.

"Fremd has some great hitters and for Rachel to battle like she did, was great," Raymond said. "And when Gerli strikes out (first two at bats), you know Brottman was throwing well."

But with time running down, Gerli stepped up and the Corsairs found new life.

"Our kids should be proud of how they played all season," Weaver added. "We played well. And give credit to Carmel, they played lights out. It was a good game all the way around."