Schaumburg eliminates Hoffman Estates

After a popout to center in her previous at-bat, Briana Lingl knew she needed a new strategy when she came to the plate in the sixth inning.

The bases were loaded with two outs and the game was tied 2-2.

“I knew I couldn’t get under the ball again,” said the Saxons senior shortstop. “The runners on base did their job. Now it was my time to do my job.”

Lingl delivered in a big way, slugging a ground-rule double down the left field line to bring in Courtney Raschk and Amber McCoy.

After junior pitcher Alyssa Lancaster (3-for-3) walked, senior Jessica Cook, who reached base three times, singled to left-center to drive home Shannon Giavannone for the third and final run of the inning.

Lancaster (9-7) retired the side in order in the seventh to give the No. 16-seeded Saxons (19-10) the 5-2 victory and berth in today’s 4:30 p.m. semifinal of the Proviso West regional against top-seeded Elk Grove (29-4).

“Anything can happen,” Lingl said. “Hoffman beat Elk Grove. Conant beat Elk Grove and we beat Conant. We’re ready to go. We’ve got to try and jump ahead early.”

No. 17 Hoffman Estates (8-24) jumped ahead early on Monday, getting a 2-run homer by third baseman Alex Tuminaro.

It was the junior’s seventh homer of the season. Kelsey Pellus was on base after walking with two outs.

The Hawks answered with 1 run in the bottom of the first and second innings.

After a one-out walk to Becca Thompson and base hit to left by Lingl, Lancaster singled home the first run.

In the second inning, McCoy led off with a bunt single. She went to second on Giovannone’s sacrifice and took third on Alexis Carravetta’s groundout. Becca Thompson then singled up the middle to tie the game at 2-2.

“We knew Hoffman could hit so we needed Alyssa hitting her spots,” said Schaumburg coach Ellen Stoddard. “We also needed to play tough defense and do what we could at the plate. The kids never gave up. They kept plugging away. We got baserunners on and got the hits when we needed them.”

Lancaster shut out the Hawks over the final six innings. She had 4 strikeouts and threw a 4-hitter.

Pellus (2-for-2) belted a double in the third and leadoff single to right in the sixth.

Lancaster was the only player in the game with 3 hits.

“It was closer than we had hoped but we pulled it out,” Lancaster said. “We must work hard against Elk Grove and come out with confidence.”

Lancaster got a nice play from first baseman Carravetta for an unassisted putout for the first out of the seventh, then struck out the final two batters for the win.

“Schaumburg is a good team,” said Hoffman coach Lindsey Hamma. “We knew what we were up against. We faced them twice and felt were prepared. Our girls came out and fought the whole game.

“Our four seniors (pitcher Emily Allan, Taylor Mann, Emily Fett and Pellus) will be missed and the girls wanted to do this for them.

“We put pressure on (Schaumburg) in multiple innings but just didn’t get the big hit and they did. Give them credit. They stepped up and took control on a few mistakes we made.”