Zaworski's bat sizzles as Fremd roars past Hersey

Unable to play in the field the last few weeks because of a finger injury, Femd's Lauren Zaworski said it felt great to be back at second base for Tuesday's semifinal of the Class 4A Palatine softball regional.

She also brought a great bat to the Vikings' first game of the postseason.

The junior slugger, already committed to Loyola University, went 4-for-4 with a triple, double and 4 RBI to help spark Fremd's 12-hit attack in a 10-1 triumph over No. 15 seeded Hersey.

Senior Casey Latal (12-1) earned the win by giving up 2 hits in 6 innings, and junior Lena Brottman (16-3) struck out the side in the seventh.

The No. 1 seeded Vikings (28-4) will face the winner of today's semifinal between No. 8 Palatine (15-15) and No. 9 Warren for Saturday's championship at 11 a.m.

"It felt really great to be back in the field," Zaworski said. "I felt the energy. Our team was solid. Casey pitched a great game and Lena closed it out so well. We always say we want to dominate and today we did. It was fun."

Latal retired 15 of the first 16 batters she faced, including 2 strikeouts.

"Casey pitched a real good game," said Vikings coach Jim Weaver, who used Brottman for the first time in a few weeks as the right-hander has been nursing an ankle injury.

"That was coach Ped (Christine Pedersen-Vlaming)," Weaver said. "She said give Lena an inning. And coach Val (TJ Valacak) pushed me to throw Lena, too. It was a good call by my assistants."

Weaver's hitters also made some good calls on their pitch selection as they staked Latal to a 8-0 lead after four innings.

Kristine Werling (2-for-4), Jenny Schneider (2-for-3) and Kelly Voigt (3-for-4, 2 RBI) were also multiple hitters for the Vikings, while Jessica Tackett doubled and Tess Dinterman singled to lead off Fremd's 4-run fourth inning.

"I thought offensively we hit the ball real well," Weaver said. "We executed the things we wanted and defensively the kids were fantastic (no errors)."

Sarah Laughlin and Aubrey Fulton, who had an RBI single in the sixth to score Julie Klawitter, had the hits for Hersey (7-21).

"Fremd is a great team,"said Huskies second-year coach Molly Freeman. "You've got to give credit where credit is due and they are a great team.

"We talked all season about getting better each day and our kids did. They showed heart and a belief in themselves."