Meadows catches - and passes up - Libertyville

Rolling Meadows kept chasing and chasing visiting Libertyville on Thursday afternoon.

The Mustangs finally caught the Wildcats with 4 runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Then came the best part for Meadows.

In the seventh inning, starting pitcher Josie Suchecki's fielder's choice groundball resulted in junior Kelly Keyzer scoring from third base to give Meadows an 11-10 victory after two hours and 15 minutes of softball.

Meadows rallied from 4-0 and 10-6 deficits before finally pulling out its first win of the season while Libertyville dropped to 2-3.

"It was ridiculous," said Mustangs senior second baseman Maryclare Loughery, the only girl to reach base five times (5-for-5, double, 2 runs) in the slugfest. "Twice we came back from 4 runs down. We never gave up but that doesn't surprise me with this team."

"Just when you thought you were out of the game, one second later, and you're right back in it," said Suchecki, who belted a double to left in the fourth inning. "I just knew I had to hit the ball on the ground in that last situation."

Keyzer started the winning rally for Meadows (1-1) when she singled to center.

A sacrifice bunt by Abby Matayka advanced Keyzer to second and she took third on Loughery's hard infield single off the glove of the third baseman.

"That was a big hit by Kelly to get us going there," said Mustangs coach Tony Wolanski.

Suchecki then delivered the game-winner, giving relief pitcher Sara Brunlieb her first varsity win.

"We made some mental mistakes and physical mistakes on defense," said Libertyville coach Mary Tiegs. "We beat ourselves. If we're going to be a good team, we have to play better defense.

"It was a great game. A lot of hitting, a lot of action. Toni (Kintzel) and Nicole (Kruckman) hit real well for us."

Kintzel went 3-for-3 with a double and 3 RBI.

Kruckman blasted a 2-run homer over the left-center field fence in the fifth inning and was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI.

Wildcats leadoff batter Brittany Schick ripped a ground-rule double down the left field for her hit but also had hard liners caught by Mustangs sophomore center fielder Ellie Morgan and freshman shortstop Sam Anderson.

Andie Grant also had a ground-rule double for Libertyville.

Meadows sophomore Natalie Cannizzo (2-for-3) had a big 2-run single which tied the game at 10-10 in the bottom of the sixth.

Junior Kayla Mueller (2-for-4, 3 RBI) had a key 2-run single in the fourth which put Meadows ahead 5-4.

"We're a talented team but we're young," Wolanski said. "It will take some time to grow but for the kids to come back like this shows their character.

"We'll pitch better, too. I know that. We just need to keep hitting like we did. That's why we won this game."

Fremd 8, Carmel 0: Emory-bound Lena Brottman (5-0) struck out 12 in 6 innings for the win in Mundelein. Junior Stacey Hnytka went the final inning for Fremd (5-0).

Jenny Schneider (3-for-4, 4 RBI, double), Kristine Werling (2-for-3, 2 runs), Allie Gaeding (3-for-3), Lauren Zaworski (3-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBI, double) and Megan Hubbard (2-for-3, 2 runs, triple, stolen base) led the Vikings' offense.

Palatine 5, Lake Zurich 3: Senior Chrissy Roto picked up her first win of the season with a 4-hitter and 2 strikeouts as the Pirates won their fourth consecutive game.

"We played great defense," said Pirates coach Jeff Manz. "There were a lot of flyballs in the wind but our fielders did a nice job."

So did the hitters.

Katie Scovic (2-for-3, 3 RBI) had a 2-run 2-out double in the sixth and an RBI single with two outs in the fourth.

Joanne Jablonski also belted a 2-run triple down the right field line with two outs in the in the fourth when the Pirates erased a 2-0 deficit.

"We left only two runners on base," Manz said. "It was a real good team win."

Sam Salomone also doubled for Palatine (4-3) while teammate Meaghan Deegan had the other hit.

Maine South 16, Maine West 6: Vanessa Bagneschi (double), Michelle Marlega (2-for-4), Alyssa Bojarski (2-for-4), Katie Fitzgerald (2-for-3) and Alli Ellwood (2-for-3, 3 RBI) led the offense for the Warriors (1-7).

Elk Grove 22, Lane Tech 0: Sophomore Krista Soesbe belted a 2-run homer and went 4-for-4 with 5 RBI and 3 runs for the host Grenadiers (5-0).

Classmate Devan Parkison was 3-for-4 while teammates Amanda Gattone and Rebecca Walz doubled.

Sophomore Dani Goranson (3-0) threw a 1-hitter with 9 strikeouts and 1 walk in the five-inning contest.

Bradford (Wis.) 3, Barrington 0: Kenosha Bradford, an Elite Eight qualifier in the Wisconsin state tourney last spring, won its season opener at the Fields of Dreams.

The Fillies (6-1) were led on offense by juniors Kristin Kuhn (3-for-3) and Kiley Dolezal (2-for-3), who struck out three and walked two.

"Their team was impressive to watch," said Fillies coach Perry Peterson. "They had timely hitting and made plays when they need to. They deserved to win the game."

St. Viator 4, Flint (Va.) 1: St. Viator completed its spring training visit to Florida with a 3-1 record at the ESPN sports complex in Orlando.

Julie Sweeney (2-0) struck out 13 and walked one while tossing a 1-hitter. She also had 3 RBI with 2 sacrifice flies and a home run.

Bridget Urbanus had 2 hits (triple and single) while Melanie Slawny doubled and collected the Lions' fourth RBI.

St. Viator's only loss on the road trip was 3-2 to Worth Christian High School of Florida. Slawny (2-1) suffered her first loss in the game.

The Lions left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh.