Martino's homer lifts Wauconda
Kate delivered late.
Kate Martino's solo home run in the top of the ninth inning lifted Wauconda's softball team to a 3-2 win over Vernon Hills in the teams' North Suburban Prairie Division opener Wednesday.
Martino's homer came on a 3-2 pitch from Cougars freshman pitcher Megan Meline and cleared the fence in left field.
Wauconda (7-2) got 2 hits apiece from Martino, Cara Nance (double) and Amanda Pausa. Brittany Ehrmann earned the win in relief, pitching 4 scoreless innings.
Vernon Hills (3-2) got a solo home run from Adriana Longobardi. Longobardi and Anna Christensen each had a pair of hits.
Meline yielded 7 hits over 9 innings, striking out 13 and walking four.
Stevenson 5, Zion-Benton 4: Amanda Jaegers' RBI single with one out in the bottom of the seventh gave the Patriots the North Suburban Lake Division win.
Alyssa Vechiola led off the Stevenson seventh with a walk, stole second base and moved to third on Ashley Niedermayer's groundout. Jaegers then singled home Vechiola.
Allison Micucci picked up the win in relief, firing 4 no-hit innings with a pair of strikeouts, as Stevenson improved to 5-3 and 2-0 in the division.
Sophomore Emma Patrash and Annelise Docel each went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI for the Patriots.
Zion-Benton's Melanie Mivshek had a 3-run triple in the third off Jordan Willis that gave the Zee-Bees a 4-0 lead.
Willis allowed 1 earned run in her 3 innings in the circle.
Grayslake Central 8, Woodstock 1: Abbie Goetsch homered twice and knocked 7 runs for the visiting Rams in the Fox Valley Conference crossover.
Goetsch belted a grand slam in the fourth, after hitting a 3-run homer an inning earlier.
Claire Brennan also had 2 hits, including a double, for Grayslake Central (3-7). Kelly Silver scored 2 runs.
Monika Wedick (3-5) pitched a complete-game 2-hitter. She struck out six and walked four.
Libertyville 9, St. Viator 7: The Wildcats scored 3 runs in the top of the ninth to break a 6-6 tie in the nonconference game.
Libertyville (3-5) got 3-for-5 efforts at the plate from Athena Cocallas (2 doubles, 3 runs scored) and Olivia Wilcox (double, 2 RBI). Erika Teitz singled and scored twice for the Wildcats.
Calley Kaluzny pitched the last 5 innings to earn the win.
Dundee-Crown 4, Grayslake North 1: Kristina Gandy had the Knights' only hit - a solo home run in the seventh.
Carly Borders suffered the loss, despite striking out nine.
Dundee-Crown's Emilie Kerkman pitched a complete game with 11 strikeouts.