Fremd, Zaworski produce grand rally

After coming back from a 3-0 deficit in the seventh inning four days ago at Conant, Monday's 2-0 deficit to Palatine in the third inning must have seemed like a walk in the park for Fremd's softball team.

Sure enough, Lauren Zaworski erased the deficit by hitting the ball out of the park - with three runners on base.

The senior slugger belted a two-out grand slam over the left-center field fence in the bottom of the third and the Vikings never looked back in posting a 7-2 win over the visiting Pirates in the Mid-Suburban West.

Fremd (17-1, 7-0) maintained a two-game lead over Barrington (5-2) while Palatine (12-8, 4-3) is tied for third with Schaumburg.

"Oh my God, it felt great, especially since I wasn't feeling it at the plate the last few games," said Zaworski, a Loyola recruit who also belted a grand slam at Palatine a year ago. "You could see Palatine came out hard and was beating us in terms of intensity.

"We said, 'OK, let's wake up.' It felt amazing to get back in the game. I'm so proud of everyone on the team the way we came back."

Zaworski ended up 2-for-3 with 3 RBI and 2 runs.

"She's going to Loyola for a reason," said Palatine coach Jeff Manz.

"That was awesome for Lauren to pull us through in that situation," said senior teammate Kristine Werling, who while playing left field threw out a runner at third base in the first inning.

Fremd sophomore Megan Hubbard belted the team's 17th homer of the season over the left-center field fence to make it 5-2 in the fourth.

Zaworski helped Fremd add 2 more runs in the fifth when she doubled sharply to left-center, scoring Ali Gaeding from first base.

An error on the play allowed Zaworski to make it home, too, for the 7-2 lead.

The Pirates jumped to a 2-0 lead as leadoff batter Katie Mnichowicz scored on a passed ball in the first and Joanna Jablonski drove in Alyx Ballenger with a double to right in the third inning.

"We've given up a lot of runs with two outs," Manz said. "But I thought we played a good softball game. The kids were aggressive, they played hard and fearless. I told them to remember that mentality and if they use it for the rest of the season, we'll have a great second half.

"You've got to do the little things well against Fremd. I felt we did a lot of them but you've got to play your best. What made me happy is that I thought we hit better against them than we did last season."

Lena Brottman (16-1) notched her 68th career win, surpassing Ellen Stoddard for the all-time school record. Borttman struck out eight.

Chrissy Roto (5-7) worked the first four innings for Palatine and Dani Boisvert the final three.

"Lena did a nice job," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. "She came back and made the pitches she had to. We made a good comeback but we have to make sure we don't keep putting ourselves in this position."

Gaeding (2-for-4) and Kelly Voigt (2-for-3) also had multiple hits for Fremd while Lauren Logan (2-for-3, double) and Katie Scovic (2-for 3) were multiple hitters for Palatine.

Schaumburg 2, Conant 0: Schaumburg sophomore southpaw Alyssa Lancaster fired a perfect game with 84 pitches in a game that took just 65 minutes.

The first out of the seventh inning came on a tricky catch by third baseman Theresa McGreevy on a windblown popup.

Saxons rightfielder Jessica Cook made a diving catch in foul territory for the second out before Lancaster wrapped up the game with her eighth strikeout against the 21st batter.

Lancaster started the bottom of fourth inning with a bunt hit. Alexis Carravetta followed with a sacrifice bunt and Becca Thompson then collected an RBI single for the 1-0 lead.

The host Saxons added a run in the sixth when No. 9 batter Shannon Giovannone led off with slap hit and ended up scoring with two outs on Aly Poehlmann's RBI single to left.

Conant is now 15-5 and 3-4.

Barrington 10, Hoffman Estates 4: Loren Krzysko (3-for-3, 3 doubles), Colleen Shandley (3-for-5), Elizabeth Owen (2-for-4), Jordan Wekony (2-for-4) and Kiley Dolezal (2-for-3, double) led the offense for Barrington (17-3, 5-2).

Dolezal improved to 15-3 with the win.

Kristin Kuhn and Kiersten Tinkoff also had had doubles for the winners, who host first-place Fremd at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

Sophomore Alex Tuminaro was 2-for-3 for the host Hawks (2-7, 2-5).

Elk Grove 11, Wheeling 1: MSL East leader Elk Grove (17-2, 7-0) was led on offense by Devan Parkison (2-for-3, 2 runs), Olivia Roback (2-for-4, double, RBI), Krista Soesbe (2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI) and Jessica Balzano (1-for-3, RBI 2 walks), who has hit safely in all 19 games for the Grens.

Winning pitcher Dani Goranson (11-1) went the first five innings, striking out nine while Stephanie Maday struck out four in the final two.

Scout Scanlon had 2 hits for host Wheeling (2-11, 1-6) while Alysson Fallon and Becky Menelle (RBI) doubled.

Prospect 6, Buffalo Grove 3: Host Prospect (6-9, 5-2) remained two games behind Elk Grove in the MSL East as Sam Mangrum (4-4) got the win and Hanna Lythberg worked the last three innings.

Top hitters for the Knights were Nikki Surico (3-for-3, RBI), Michelle Molini (2-for-3, RBI), Nicole Naranjo (2-for-4, 2 RBI, double) and Amanda Mlikan (2-for-4).

Andrea DiPrima (2-for-4) and Emily Begnel (2-for-3) led the offense for BG (11-10, 2-5).

Hersey 4, Rolling Meadows 1: Haley Henriksen had a 2-run single and Taylor Reeves had an RBI single when host Hersey (5-15, 1-6) scored all 4 of its runs in the fifth inning.

Kristy Johnson earned the win with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk while tossing a 1-hitter.

"Kristy got a little confidence back at the Larkin tournament last Saturday, " said Huskies coach Molly Freeman. "And she was really on for this game."

Meadows only hit came in the second inning by Emily Skorin.

Coach Tony Wolanski, who notched career win No. 100 on Saturday at Evanston, saw the longest hitting streak by an area player come to an end. Mustangs senior Maryclare Loughery had hit safely in 34 consecutive games until Monday.

St. Viator 12, Round Lake 2 (5 innings): Julie Sweeney (9-2) got the win for the host Lions (13-5) with 6 strikeouts. Melanie Slawny pitched the final inning in relief.

Abby Dickey (single and triple), Bridget Urbanus (triple) and Tayler Lenart (3 hits, 3 runs) led the Lions offense.

Ronnie Mack and Jennie Michalik each had two-run singles in the late innings. Alex Flasch and Angelica Dickey added doubles for the Lions.

Leyden 17, Proviso East 0 (5 innings): Hannah Seymore (4-2) threw a no-hitter, striking out nine and walking none. The visiting Eagles improved to 3-0 in the West Suburban Gold.