Pfeiffer, Schaumburg on a roll
This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Schaumburg, which lost four starters from last season’s team to graduation.
Somebody forgot to tell Cheyenne Pfeiffer and the rest of the Saxons.
Pfeiffer, the only senior on this year’s squad, rolled a solid 556 series as Schaumburg defeated Barrington 7-2 to stay in the hunt in the Mid-Suburban League.
Elk Grove blanked Hersey to stay atop the MSL with a 36-0 mark; the Saxons and Hoffman Estates are right behind with 30-6 records; while Prospect and Rolling Meadows (both at 29-7) are tied for fourth in the conference standings logjam.
“I look at my role as being a team leader this season,” said Pfeiffer. “We’ve got the potential to go pretty far. We may not always show it, but we have it.”
The Saxons won despite an inspired effort from the Fillies and especially Jazlynn Skor. The senior rolled six consecutive strikes in the latter stages of game three, leading to her best-ever 223 game.
Barrington, only four years in the league, came within 3 pins of getting a signature victory.
“This was a fun day,” said Skor. “We picked each other up and had a great time.”
“We’re coming on fast and strong,” added the senior. “We’re showing that we can compete with the good, tough teams in this league.”
The Grenadiers were led in their 9-0 victory over Hersey by Tedra Tado (583 series) while Hoffman Estates, behind sophomore Sarah Wille, overcame a first-game loss to rival Conant to rebound and best the Cougars.
Wille fired games of 213 and 239 — en route to the evening’s high series of 602 at AMF Lanes in Rolling Meadows — to spark the Hawks.
“Our energy level was down, so we did our ‘fire it up’ cheer after we lost the first game, and that got us going,” said Wille. “Once we had a good second game, we just kept it going and carried it over to the third.”
The Cougars’ Sam Pincenti excelled with a 235 game and 589 series. Fremd’s Sam Rossdeutscher fired a 588 in the Vikings win over Wheeling, while Prospect senior Allison Walsh had a 233 game in leading the Knights to a big win over Palatine, which saw games of 176 and 174 from Anna Lessner.
Buffalo Grove senior Mariah McVay scored the night’s high game, a 244, as the Bison fell to Rolling Meadows.
The big story for the Mustangs, this year’s league darkhorse, was the play of junior Sarah Caprio.
Only last Wednesday, Caprio thought she’d be spending the season on the JV squad — but she wsa promoted to varsity for last Thursday’s match, cemented her position on the team with a solid showing, and Monday rolled a solid 554 in the win.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said Caprio of her promotion to the senior-dominated Meadows team, “but the great thing was that my teammates supported me every step of the way.”
“They told me not to be nervous — not to think about being on varsity, but just go out and bowl like I was bowling in a JV match.”
Ÿ The Hoffman Estates program received some national coverage this week, as former Hawks standout bowler Natalie Cortese was featured in the “faces in the crowd” section of the current edition of Sports Illustrated. The SI article highlighted Cortese’s stellar senior season at Valparaiso University, which has included the program’s first-ever tournament victory and a current 30-8 overall record. “She was a determined, dedicated player while she was here,” said Hawks coach Dan Pfliger on Monday of Cortese, who helped lead Hoffman to a state championship in 2005/06. “I’m sure she’s the same way at Valpo.”