Lake Zurich edges Fremd
Maria Schroeder should have been knee-knocking nervous Saturday afternoon in Gurnee.
Should have thought, “My goodness, one of those butterflies flitting around in my stomach sure feels like a condor.”
But the Lake Zurich freshman third baseman — with two out, classmate Carlee Parsons on first base and her team trailing Fremd 3-2 in the top of the seventh inning — was the epitome of cool as she strode to the plate in the Class 4A Warren sectional softball final.
Schroeder even danced briefly in the batter’s box, before getting into her stance to battle Vikings junior ace Rachel Doering.
Schroeder, hampered a bit by an ankle sprain, boogied atop the dirt to her favorite song, Nelly’s “Hot in Herre.”
The tune was blaring from the Bears’dugout.
“When she dances in games, I dance,” LZ coach Michaela Towne would admit later.
“I’m a better dancer, obviously,” Schroeder insisted.
Schroeder stood still long enough in the box to strike a game-tying triple to right field, near foul territory, and jigged all the way to home plate on a throwing error.
The stunning sequence made it third-seeded Lake Zurich 4, top-seeded Fremd 3.
Bears senior starter Megan Mattera then fanned the final two batters in a 1-2-3 seventh to preserve the 4-3 victory and secure the third sectional title in program history.
Lake Zurich (24-7) will face New Trier (22-11) at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the Glenbrook South supersectional. NT beat Glenbrook South 8-1 in its sectional final Saturday in Winnetka.
LZ last appeared in a supersectional in 2003, when the Bears, paced by ace Megan Hinck (86 career wins), defeated Vernon Hills 4-0 in the Class AA tournament.
“Ecstatic … I’m ecstatic right now,” Mattera (20-7) said after allowing 5 hits — none after the third inning — and finishing with 9 strikeouts in steamy conditions.
“We kept doing whatever we could to get back in it. Everybody stayed positive, even when there was pressure. Maria — she loves pressure, loves being in tough situations.”
Fremd (28-6-1), which beat LZ 6-0 on April 7, loved how it started on Saturday: up 3-0, after 1 inning. Vikings junior left fielder Caitlin Patenaude, after fouling off three pitches on a 3-2 count, connected for a 3-run triple to right-center, scoring senior shortstop Allie Gaeding (2-for-2), sophomore center fielder Amanda Matsumoto (2-for-2) and junior Brittany Ciura (walk, sac bunt).
“We had chances after that, a lot of chances, to get more runs and knock Lake Zurich out,” said Vikes coach Jim Weaver. “You can’t let a team like Lake Zurich hang around. It’s too good of a team. All teams playing now are very good teams.”
LZ plated its first run in the top of the third inning, on an Allie McGinnis (2-for-3) single to shallow left field. Parsons and Schroeder had hit sharp up-the-middle singles.
Doering (7 IP, 2 ER, 8 hits, 3 Ks, 1 BB) didn’t allow a hit in the next 3 innings.
“Rachel pitched really, really well,” Weaver said. “She has a very good presence out there … a confident presence. But she had to work hard to get that.”
Fremd’s Vikings had a hard time fathoming the loss.
Last year’s 4A state runner-up was 1 out away from a 3-1 victory on Saturday.
One out away from a supersectional berth for the third year in a row.
“Our team this year … absolutely unbelievable,” said Gaeding, who tapped a pair of bunt singles — inches from home plate — in her first 2 at-bats.
“We were focused, all the time. We were all for each other.”
Schroeder wasn’t the only LZ freshman to come up big in the top of the seventh inning.
Two others did. Right fielder Kristen Walding — a call-up, from the JV squad, for the postseason — led off the seventh with an infield hit on a 3-2 count. Following a sacrifice bunt by senior shortstop Tabbetha Bohac and a groundout, rookie Parsons (2-for-4), with Schroeder on deck, put the ball in play.
A Fremd infield error allowed LZ to cut Fremd’s lead to 3-2.
Cue the Nelly song.
“Hey, Maria!” a voice from LZ’s dugout shouted as Schroeder, with her head down, excitedly tamped and rearranged dirt near home plate. “It’s getting hot in here!”
Schroeder looked up, beamed.
Schroeder then delivered her season-saving triple, when the heat of the moment, combined with Saturday’s humidity, had the potential to melt her.
“Maria is such an easy-going player, such a relaxed player,” Towne said. “She relaxes, while competing, and that allows her to succeed.”
Fremd was expected to enjoy success, again, this year. But 28 wins?
A No. 1 sectional seed?
“No way, at the beginning of the season, were we supposed to get to this game,” said Weaver, adding he lost eight graduates from last year’s 33-5 edition — the best team in program history.
“Basically, this year, we used a whole new lineup. But they all worked hard, got better and better. Great season. We had a great season.”