Styzek ensures a Prospect victory at Conant

With Prospect nursing a 6-5 lead in the top of the seventh inning at Conant, the Knights' Mary Styzek stood in the batter's box with runners on second and third and two outs.

"I knew we had a 1-run lead," she said. " Even though I have a lot of faith in our team, anything can happen when it's only 1 run. I knew we'd be a lot more comfortable with a bigger lead (going into the bottom of the seventh."

Well, the junior center fielder came up big.

Styzek lined a single to left scoring freshman Michelle Molini and senior Jen Forssander to give the Knights the 8-5 advantage which would become the final score.

Sophomore Hanna Lythberg (4 strikeouts) completed her first win of the season in the bottom half of the inning by facing five batters, giving up an infield hit to Amanda Van Jacobs.

The big play of the inning came when shortstop Molini made a superb diving grab of Kim Jacobson's soft liner with a runner on first base for the second out.

"It helped a lot that I had those insurance runs," Lythberg said. "We needed a little motivation for our team and this game will do a lot for that."

The Knights (3-6, 2-1 opened the game with a 4-run first inning, getting a 2-run double from Molini and a 2-run single by Lythberg , who went 3-for-4 at the plate.

Prospect senior Amanda Mlikan was 2-for-4 with a triple.

"Oh gosh, that first inning really felt good," Mlikan said. "We had read about Conant and knew they were tough. When we got those hits in the first inning (3), we knew we could hit them."

The Knights outhit the Cougars 12-10.

Junior Nikki Surico collected the game-winning RBI when her ground rule double to right field brought home Sarah Scaccia and Styzek for the 6-5 lead in the top of the fourth.

"We know we can hit the ball," said Knights coach Brenda Martin, who was teammates with Conant coach CathyAnn Smith at Schaumburg High School. "Each game is a confidence builder. We are still young and learning."

"This was a big confidence-booster," Mlikan added "I thought our infield (third baseman Surico, shortstop Molini, second baseman Scaccia, first baseman Allison Malewig and catcher Cassie Poulos) communicated real well with each other and its showing real growth."

Conant (11-2, 2-1) was led on offense by pitcher Brianna Cavin (3-for-4, 1 run), catcher Miranda Cavin (2-for-4, 1 run) and right fielder Van Jacobs (3-for-4, 1 run).

"We didn't adjust to their pitcher's change-up," Smith said. "Bri (Cavin, who is 6-2) fought hard for us. Prospect didn't hit them out of the park like they have in the past on us. We fell short but these girls have a lot of goals. We've got to make sure we are more consistent with not putting extra people on base."

Palatine 7, Buffalo Grove 6: Palatine improved to 8-5 and 2-1 in the MSL West as senior Chrissy Roto (3-4) threw a 7-hitter with 3 strikeouts and 2 walks to notch the win.

Heather Zimmerman belted a 2-run triple in the second inning and had pair of RBI for the host Pirates while Lauren Logan went 3-for-3 with a double in the Pirates' 3-run third inning.

Junior Maria Dax (5-4) struck out four for the Bison (9-4, 0-3), who were led on offense by Andrea DiPrima (2-for-4 double), Erin Barton (2-for-4), Danni Shapiro (double) and Emily Begnel (double).

Barrington 9, Rolling Meadows 2: Kristin Kuhn (2-for-4, 1 run) and Colleen Shandley (2-for-5, RBI, 1 run) led the offense for host Barrington (12-2, 2-1) while pinch-hitter Dana Moran broke the 1-1 tie with an RBI single in the fourth inning.

Kiley Dolezal (11-2) struck out six as the winning pitcher.

Maryclare Loughery moved into fifth on the IHSA all-time list for consecutive games with a hit when she singled to center with two outs in the first inning. She has hit safely in 27 straight for coach Tony Wolanski.

During the streak, the senior second baseman is batting .500 (42-for-84).

Kelly Keyzer and Emily Skorin also had doubles for the Mustangs (5-5, 0-3) while Jordan Wekony and Kiersten Tinkoff doubled for the Fillies.

Fremd 14, Wheeling 1 (5 innings): The host Vikings scored 10 runs in the first inning before two were out and then cruised to their ninth win in 10 games and third straight in the MSL West.

Senior Alexa Cinquegrani belted a 3-run homer in the first and sophomore Brittany Ciura had a 2-run homer in the fourth.

Lena Brottman (9-1) earned the win, getting help from junior Stacey Hyntka (one inning) and sophomore Rachel Doering, who threw 2 innings in her varsity debut.

Leading the Vikes' offense were Kristine Werling (3-for-4, 3 runs, 3 RBI), Allie Gaeding (3-for-3, 3 runs, RBI), Lauren Zaworski (2-for-3, 4 RBI, 2 doubles) and Jenny Schneider (2-for-3, 1 run).

Tori Mennelle had the only hit for Wheeling (1-8, 0-3) in the fourth inning.

Elk Grove 12, Hoffman Estates 0: Kristen Cetkovic went 3-for-5 with 2 doubles and made three over-the-shoulder catches in the outfield to help visiting Elk Grove (11-2, 3-0) past Hoffman (2-3, 2-1).

Senior Stephanie Maday doubled and tripled for the Grens while Jessica Balzano and Devan Parkinson each had 2 hits.

Dani Goranson (7-1) earned the pitching decision for Elk Grove and the sophomore right-hander, who bats lefty, also doubled.

Schaumburg 6, Hersey 2: Junior Becca Thompson had a 2-run double, the key hit in a 5-run third inning for the host Saxons in an MSL crossover victory over Hersey (3-10, 0-3).

Sophomore Alyssa Lancaster (7-4) tossed a complete-game 4-hitter for Schaumburg (7-4, 2-1), striking out five and walking two.

Lancaster, Jessica Cook and Theresa McGreevy also had hits for the Saxons in the third inning.

Maine West 5, Lane Tech 3: Alli Ellwood homered and Maine West came from behind to claim a nonconference victory against visiting Lane.

Ariel Valles (3-0) earned the victory, and Katie Fitzgerald went 2-for-3 with a double for the Warriors (5-7), who put together a 3-run rally in the bottom of the fifth to complete the scoring.

Alyssa Bojarski and Vanessa Bagneschi each went 2-for-4 for Maine West.