Different game, different result for Fremd
Unlike last year's Class 4A state softball semifinal when Loyola edged Fremd 1-0, the rematch on Wednesday in Palatine saw players rounding third base with much more frequency.
When it was over, the Vikings had secured their fourth win of the season without a loss, posting a 10-6 triumph over the defending state champion Ramblers (3-2), who return six starters.
Six Vikings had hits but the only one with a pair was No. 9 batter Megan Hubbard (2-for-2, walk), a sophomore who belted 2 doubles, including one in the second inning which proved to be the game-winning RBI.
Hubbard's blast to the right-centerfield gap scored Brittany Ciura and gave Fremd a 3-2 lead it never relinquished.
The Vikings increased the advantage to 7-2 in the third when Alexa Cinquegrani belted an RBI triple and Tess Dinterman followed with a 2-run homer over the left-field fence.
Senior ace Lena Brottman (4-0), who struck out one, did not give up an earned run.
"We definitely have things to work on defensively," Dinterman said. " But our offense came through."
"They're a great team," Brottman said. "After they got the 2-0 lead (a home run by Cornell-bound cleanup hitter and center fielder Jenny Edwards), the biggest thing was to take a deep breath, turn that around and I knew with my teammates behind me we could come through."
Loyola climbed to within 7-5 in with 3 runs in the fourth but Fremd answered again in the bottom of the inning when Kristine Werling and Allie Gaeding each came home on a throwing error.
The Vikings scored their 10th run in the sixth when pinch-hitter Emily Janes came through with a sacrifice fly to center to score Hubbard.
"Obviously, we didn't forget the game with them last year," said Dinterman, one of nine Vikings starters back from that 33-5 team that took third in the state. " But we just came out with the mindset that this is a new team and this is a new season.
"Lena is always awesome. It might have been a surprise to fall behind early but we knew she would come through for us. We have to work on our defense."
Fremd coach Jim Weaver reminded his players it's only March 31.
"We'll take 10 runs against a quality team like Loyola," he said. "If you don't have a lot of work to do March 31, then maybe you should write a book. Maybe this will shake our cage a bit.
"We knew we had to keep the ball down when pitching to them. Give that kid (Edwards) credit. She had a pretty good swing on that pitch."
Brottman had 35 strikeouts in the Vikings' first 3 wins.
"We needed this game," Weaver said. "We didn't have to play much defense those first three games. This just shows us what we have to work on. I'm glad we didn't carry it over to the offensive side. This hopefully gets us to focus more on defense now."
Loyola coach Marty Jennings, whose team graduated a Division I battery from a year ago, found a few positives.
"One thing I know about our team, we can hit the ball," said Jennings, who also a Dayton recruit in senior third baseman Dana Trotta. "We have a lot of new starters and a lot of work to do.
"For a team with six staters back, we still had to replace four players in the field. We've been doing things on the fly. This is two games in a row we hit a quality pitcher (the Ramblers defeated Oak Park-River Forest ace Leah Bry in their last game)."
Werling, Lauren Zaworski and Jenny Schneider had the other hits for Fremd, which visits Carmel today.
Deerfield 7, Hoffman Estates 2: Sophomore Amanda Harris went 2-for-3 for the host Hawks (0-2) while Emily Fett, Linden Fick, Carissa Adamson and Taylor Mann each had a hit.
Leyden 9, Larkin 3: Leyden improved to 5-0 as sophomore Hannah Seymore (2-0) gave up 1 hit in 5 innings.
Sophomore Morgan Maize got the save, throwing the final two innings with 4 strikeouts.
Top hitters for the Eagles were April Markowski (2-for-4, 2 runs), Maize (3-for-4, 2 runs) and Moira Quinlan (2-for-4, 2 runs).
Glenbrook South 7, Hersey 6: Coming off a 7-3 win over defending Class 4A state champ Loyola, Hersey rallied with 3 runs in the seventh but fell short by 1 run to the host Titans.
Sophomore Haley Henriksen went 4-for-4 for Hersey (2-3) with 4 RBI and a double. Aubrey Fulton and Kim Ferraro had the other hits for the Huskies.
St. Viator 11, Monroe 5: The Lions (3-0) won for the second time on their Florida trip as senior Melanie Slawny threw a 3-hitter.
Bridget Urbanus had 3 hits for the Lions while Abby Dickey had 2 RBI and 2 hits.
Lions senior Jennie Mihalik collected her first varsity hit while junior teammate Kelly O'Brien had her first RBI.