Hoffman Estates stops Prospect

The Hoffman Estates and Prospect softball teams are the only two in the Mid-Suburban League that sit in the first base dugouts for home games.

So when the Hawks played in Mt. Prospect on Monday to open conference play, they found themselves in a rare place — the third base dugout.

Apparently, though, the Hawks felt right at home.

They jumped out to a 6-1 lead after two innings and never looked back in a 9-6 triumph over the Knights.

Senior Emily Allan (2-2) went the first 5 innings and junior Elaine Lord went the final 1 for the save.

Prospect (3-5, 0-1) left 12 runners on base and had the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth when Lord came into the contest.

In the Hawks’ big 5-run second inning, senior Kelsey Pellus belted a 2-run homer.

Junior Alex Tuminaro (2-for-4) had a double and RBI for the Hawks (3-7, 1-0), who received 4 strikeouts from Allan.

Jamie Blankenship went 4-for-4 for Prospect while teammate Sarah Scaccia had a pair of hits.

Palatine 7, Rolling Meadows 1: Palatine senior ace Dani Boisvert (6-1) had a no-hitter until freshman Grace Skorin led off the bottom of the seventh with a single to left-center.

Sam Salomone (2-for-5) belted a home run for visiting Pirates (8-2, 1-0) while Joanne Jablonski (3-for-5) tripled.

Other top hitters for Palatine were Katie Mnichowicz (2-for-3), Alyx Ballenger (2-for-5) and Lauren Logan (2-for-4).

Boisvert finished with a 1-hitter and struck out three while Sara Brunlieb (4-3) struck out three for Meadows (5-4, 0-1).

Barrington 7, Buffalo Grove 3: Senior Kiley Dolezal (8-1) threw a 7-hitter with 4 strikeouts for visiting Barrington (10-3, 1-0) as Colleen Shandley (3-for-4), Kiersten Tinkoff (2-for-4) and Tess Bolger (double) led the offense.

Emily Begnel belted a homer for the Bison (5-3, 0-1) while Erin Barton (3-for-4) added a double. Maria Dax struck out two for BG.

Fremd 10, Hersey 0 (6 innings): Senior shortstop Allie Gaeding (2 runs, 2 stolen bases) walked to lead off the game, stole second and came home on a wild pitch as visiting Fremd (10-0-1, 1-0) never trailed.

Sophomore Ashlynne Schwantz (5-0) tossed a 5-hitter with 5 strikeouts and no walks.

Caitlin Patenaude (2-for-3, double), Michelle Mazur (2-for-3, 4 RBI), Megan Horn (1-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 runs, walk) and Stacey Hnytka (1-for-3) led the Vikings’ offense while junior Alex Tinaglia doubled for the Huskies (2-6, 0-1).

Schaumburg 17, Wheeling 0 (5 inn.): Senior Brianne Lingl was 5-for-5 with 5 RBI while classmate Jen Anderson belted a grand slam for visiting Schaumburg (5-1, 1-0).

Other key hitters for the Saxons’ were junior Courtney Raschk (2-for-2, 2 doubles) and senior Jessica Cook (2-for-4, double, 3 RBI).

Junior Renee Kakareka (3-0) earned the win.

Seniors Sejal Shah and Alyson Fallon each had 2 hits for Wheeling (2-3, 0-1).

St. Viator 5, Maine South 4: Host St. Viator (3-7) scored 3 runs in the bottom of the seventh to win the nonconference game.

Kelly O’Brien (2-3) led off with a single to center and Alex Flasch reached on an error.

Julie Sweeney sacrificed the runners to second and third before Ally Joyce walked to load the bases.

Michelle Presslak (2-for-4, 2 RBI), who homered earlier in the game, drew a bases-loaded walk.

Senior Angelica Dickey then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Flasch before freshman Sam Hogan (2-3, RBI) singled up the middle for the winning run.

“Angelica (Dickey) has done a great job in filling in for the injured Jaclyn Koziol,” said Lions coach Dan Twarog. “She has hit the ball hard and played a great third base.”

Sweeney (3-7) struck out eight.

Niles North 4, Maine West 3 (10 innings): Holly Wengerski (2-for-5), Alyssa Bojarski (2-for-4) and Gina Larucci (2-for-4 were top hitters for Maine West (3-5, 0-1) in the Central Suburban North opener in Skokie.