Elk Grove locks up MSL East title again

Guess who is back in the Mid-Suburban League softball championship game?

If you said the team that has been there for nine of the last 10 years, you are right.

Coach Ken Grams and his power-hitting Elk Grove squad locked up its 10th appearance in 11 years with senior Stephanie Maday and sophomore Dani Goranson's combined 5-0 shutout of visiting Prospect on Friday afternoon.

The Grens (25-2, 12-0) grabbed a five-game lead over second-place Prospect (10-13, 7-5) with four to play to clinch the MSL East title.

The only time Elk Grove missed the title game this decade was when Prospect won the championship four years ago.

"This was out first goal," Grams said after watching junior Kristen Cetkovic hit her fourth and the Grens' 28th homer of the season for a 2-0 lead in the second inning. "We've talked about getting separation (from Prospect in the divisional race) and now we don't have to talk about that anymore."

A lot of the talk in the Grens offense is the 27-game hitting streak by leadoff batter Jessica Balzano, who also had nine consecutive hits until grounding out to second in her second at-bat Friday.

"Jessica battles so hard when she leads off the game for us," Maday said. "She looks at a lot of pitches to help all of us see what the pitcher has. Then when she's back in the dugout, we all talk about it, too."

Grams said Balzano is perfect for that role because she is a good hitter with two strikes.

"It doesn't matter when she gets two strikes because she is still a good hitter with that count, too," Grams said. "She'll come back and tell us what she sees from the pitchers."

The Grens pitchers have acted in a dual role all season.

"It's to our advantage," said Maday (9-1), who went the first 4 innings and did not give up a hit with 3 strikeouts. "It's a new look for the batters when a new pitcher comes in and it's harder for them to adjust."

Goranson (16-1) struck out four.

Hanna Lythberg had 2 of Prospect's 4 hits in the final three innings. Amanda Mlikan and Allison Malewig had the other two.

"Their pitchers moved the ball around well," said Prospect coach Brenda Martin. "They have some great velocity. But I thought our girls made some good contact. We hit some balls right at them."

Junior Sam Mangrum (7-6) struck out four in seven innings for Prospect.

No. 3 hitter Devan Parkison went 3-for-3 for the Grens with an RBI in the second inning for the 3-0 lead.

Sophomore Megan Keegan (2-for-4) led off the third with a double and scored when Maday reached on an error to game it 4-0.

Junior Katie Keegan got a hit in her first varsity at-bat with an RBI double to left to score Krista Soesbe, who had doubled. That made it 5-0 in the fifth.

"It definitely feels good to win the division," said Balzano, who has done it in all three of her varsity seasons. "We just want to keep improving."

Fremd 2, Schaumburg 1: Senior Alexa Cinquegrani belted a solo homer to lead off the third inning for host Fremd (21-2, 11-1) and classmate Kristine Werling had an infield single with the bases loaded in the fifth to score Megan Hubbard for the game-winning RBI.

Lena Brottman (19-2) fired a 5-hitter with 8 strikeouts while Alyssa Lancaster (13-7) struck out four, walked two and gave up only 2 hits for Schaumburg (15-8, 7-5). Lancaster also doubled for Schaumburg.

The visiting Saxons jumped ahead 1-0 in the second when Becca Thompson (2-for-3) led off with a first-pitch solo homer.

Fremd holds a two-game lead on defending champ Barrington with four to play in the MSL West.

"It was really a well-played game on both sides," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver.

Barrington 3, Palatine 2: Barrington scored all its runs in the second inning on a solo homer by junior Kiersten Tinkoff (2-for-4) and 2-run blast by freshman Loren Krzysko (2-for-4) with Nora Logue on base.

The Fillies (25-4, 9-3) proceeded to load the bases with one out in the inning but Chrissy Roto (9-9) got out of the jam with back-to-back ground balls.

Freshman Alexa Rebecca went 3-for-3 with a double for the Fillies.

Sam Salomone was 2-for-4 with a double for the Pirates (17-11, 7-5), who were the home team on the scoreboard but the game was at the Fields of Dreams.

Junior Kiley Dolezal (23-4) struck out five for Barrington, which has now won at least 25 games for 10 straight years.

Hersey 6, Wheeling 5: Hersey sophomore third baseman Melissa Cecala (2-for-4) belted a 2-run, 2-out double to left center to cap a 3-run bottom of the seventh.

Stacey Schmiederer (2-for-4) had an RBI single just before to drive home Haley Henriksen and make it 5-4

Taylor Reeves followed with a single before Cecala's big double.

Aubrey Fulton struck out five as the winning pitcher and also went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Tori Menelle struck out two for visiting Wheeling (4-16, 1-11) while teammates Becky Menelle went 4-for-4 with a double and Sara Kern 2-for-2. Sami Spinabella also doubled.

"It was nice for the girls to get the feeling of pulling one out at the end," said Huskies coach Molly Freeman, whose team is 7-20 and 3-9. "They deserved it. I'm proud of how they came back."

Postponed: Host Conant (18-6. 6-5) and Hoffman Estates (3-16, 2-9) will play at 10 a.m. today.

Rolling Meadows 15, Lake Forest 3 (5 innings): Freshman Sara Brunlieb (6-3) tossed a 4-hitter with 4 strikeouts as Kelly Keyzer and Sam Anderson belted homers for the Mustangs (14-12) in a quarterfinal of their own tourney.

Josie Suchecki, Abby Matayka (2-for-4), Ellie Morgan (2-for-2) and Natalie Cannizzo (2-for-3) each doubled for Meadows, which plays the winner of today's 9 a.m. game between Elmwood Park and Willowbrook (postponed Friday) at 3:15 p.m. today.