Manz nets No. 200 as Palatine wins twice

With 11 wins in its last 12 games, and a championship Saturday night in the Rolling Meadows Invite, the Palatine softball team is on a roll.

Just like its coach has been the past eight and half seasons.

Jeff Manz notched his 200th win when the Pirates blanked Glenbrook South 3-0 in the afternoon semifinals.

The Pirates (14-3) then went out and won the title game 8-3 over Maine West under the lights.

Senior southpaw ace Dani Boisvert (12-2) won all three tourney games in 24 hours.

“It’s very exiting to be a part of this with coach Manz,” said Boisvert, who will play at Millikin next season. “That’s a great accomplishment for our program.”

Manz has led the Pirates to a 201-89-2 record since taking over the program in 2003.

“What a great group of kids who have been willing to buy into what we are doing,” Manz said about the milestone win.

Boisvert struck out six in the win over Glenbrook South. Sam Salomone (2-for-4) and Alexis Bauer (1-for-3, triple) led the offense.

“After being off for five days, it was tough coming back on Friday (a 13-3 win against Niles North),” Boisvert said. “But Saturday, I felt normal again. My pitches were really on and I had outstanding defense behind me, in my opinion the best defense in the conference. It was a good day all-around.”

Boisvert struck out four in the championship game and also contributed with her bat by going 3-for-3.

Pirates sophomore first baseman Lauren Logan was 2-for-3 with a double.

Senior Nicole Mavraganis went 2-for-3 for the Maine West (8-7).

Rolling Meadows Invite: Maine West defeated host Meadows 4-2 in the semifinals as sophomore Ariel Valles threw a 6-hitter with 6 strikeouts.

Sophomore Holly Wengerski (2-for-3), senior Olivia Beers (2-for-4), sophomore Brie Montmarquette (2-for-4, 4 RBI) and junior Alyssa Bojarski (2-for-3) led the Warriors offense.

Natalie Cannizzo (1-for-2) had a 2 run singles for Meadows (10-8)

Elk Grove splits: The Daily Herald’s top-ranked team, Elk Grove (15-2), blanked host Lake Zurich 1-0 in the opener as senior Dani Goranson tossed a 4-hitter with 4 strikeouts.

Goranson also drove in the game’s only run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right in the third inning to score freshman shortstop Becca Maher, who had walked to lead off the inning.

Elk Grove earned the win over Lake Zurich ace Megan Mattera, whose triple to center in Game 2 gave the Bears a 5-4 win.

Mattera’s walk-off triple gave Goranson only her second loss against 14 wins.

Andrea Starr pitched the first six innings for Elk Grove and left with the scored tied 4-4.

Jessica Balzano (2-for-4), Goranson (2-for-4), Becca Walz (2-for-4) and Elisa Payne (2-for-3) led the Grens’ offense in Game 2.

Schaumburg sweeps Niles West: Rene Karareka (4-1) was the winning pitcher in Game 1 when the host Saxons won 15-13.

Brianne Lingl (4-for-5, home run, double, 4 RBI), Alyssa Lancaster (4-for-4, 2 doubles, 3 RBI), Amber McCoy (2-for-4) and Jenna lane (3-for-4, 4 RBI) led the Saxons’ offense.

Lancaster (4-4) got the win in Game 2 and also belted 2 homers (2-for-4, 5 RBI).

Alexis Carravetta (3-for-3), Lingl (2-for-3, double, 2 RI), Shannon Giovannone (2-for-3) and Lane (2-for-3, double, RBI) were other top hitters for Schaumburg (8-5).

Barrington falls twice: Playing in the downstate Washington Invite, Barrington fell 8-7 in eight innings to Metamora and 10-3 to Joliet West.

The Fillies’ Loren Krzysko was 3-for-4, and Liz Owen was 2-for-4 with 4 RBI against Metamora.

Owen (2-for-3, RBI) and Jordan Wekony (2-for-3, RBI) led the offense for Barrington (16-8) in Game 2.

Buffalo Grove Invite: The host Bison (10-8) took second place to Vernon Hills in the four-team Slugfest.

Vernon Hills stopped the Bison 14-2 in five innings. Two of the Bison’s 4 hits came on doubles from senior KC Dunne and junior Jessie Lazzara.

BG bounced back to defeat Streamwood 12-3 as sophomore Megan Fu got her first win of the season, throwing a 4-hitter with 2 strikeouts.

Andrea DiPrima (2-for-4) belted a 3-run homer to center field in the second inning. Other top hitters for the Bison were Erin Barton (3-for-4) and Dunne (3-for-4, triple).

BG finished the day with a 5-2 win over Warren as senior Maria Dax (9-7) threw a 4-hitter with 3 strikeouts. Senior Danni Shapiro had an RBI double for the Bison.

St. Charles East Invite: Hoffman Estates went 1-1-1 on Saturday, opening the day with a 4-3 loss to Lyons in which Hawks senior catcher Kelsey Pellus went 2-for-3 with a double and junior Alex Tuminaro clubbed a 2-run homer.

In an 8-4 win over St. Ignatius, Taylor Mann went 2-for-3 and belted a home run for the Hawks while Tuminaro and Emily Fett each had doubles. Emily Allan went all 7 innings for the win.

The Hawks (4-13-1) tied with the host Saints 12-12 in four innings (time limit) as Linden Fick (3-for-4), Pellus (2-for-3), Kaileen Hendle (2-for-3) and Nicole LaBeck (2-for-2, walk) led the offense.

St. Viator drops two: Despite 12 strikeouts from senior Julie Sweeney, visiting St. Viator (7-12, 2-5) fell to Joliet Catholic 7-5 in Game 2.

Sophomore Michelle Presslak led the Lions’ offense with a 3-run home run in the sixth inning. Sweeney (2-for-4) doubled with the bases loaded in the seventh to pull the Lions to within 2 runs. St. Viator had the winning run at the plate with runners on second and third but couldn’t score another run.

Sweeney’s 12 strikeouts set a school record for a conference game.

Freshman Gina Mastrodomenico went 3-for-3 and she also hit a homer in her last at-bat of Game 1 which the Lions lost 16-2.

Sam Hogan started Game 2 and struck out two. Sweeney played first base and collected 2 hits with an RBI.

“We needed to find more consistency in the second game,” said Lions coach Dan Twarog. “Julie Sweeney did a nice job keeping us in the game. We let down in the middle innings and a few unearned runs scored. If we learn from this, going forward, we will win more games. Time will tell.

“I’m delighted with Sam Hogan’s pitching in her first conference game. She threw over 110 pitches. That’s twice as many as she threw in any previous game. She gets better every time she pitches. She will be one of our main pitchers after this year.”

Leyden sweeps Evanston: Morgan Maize threw a 4-hitter with 10 strikeouts for a 9-0 shutout in Game 1 and she was 3-for-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI.

Other top hitters for Leyden (14-2) were Amanda Moran (3-for-4, double), April Markowski (2-for-5, double), Jessica DuBrock (2-for-5), Brigid Mackey (2-for-3, RBI) and Denise Moran (2-for-4, RBI).

Maize (12-1) also got the 7-1 win in Game 2 as she struck out seven.

Markowski (2-for-4, double), Maize 1-4 (double, 2 RBI) and Bri Michels (1-for-3, 2 RBI) led the Eagles’ offense.

Wheeling sweeps Maine East: Wheeling sophomore Sara Kern collected 15 RBI in the twin bill with a grand slam in Game 1 and 3-run homer in Game 2.

Freshman Katie Quagliano got the win in Game 1, striking out 12 in a 10-2 decision. Kern had 7 RBI in the game, including her grand slam which went over the centerfield fence.

Sejal Shah struck out seven as visiting Wheeling (4-7) won 22-4 in Game 2 when Kern collected 8 RBI.

Mundelein 12, Hersey 2: Visiting Mundelein had 3 doubles in the nonconference game against Hersey (4-12), which received RBI singles from Mallory Eichhorn and Haley Henriksen.