St. Charles East sweeps Fremd
St. Charles East and Fremd combined for three chances to record the final out in Game 1 of their doubleheader Saturday in St. Charles, and nobody ever got it.
Saints shortstop Lexi Perez laced a two-out, two-run double — her fifth hit of the game — to give the Saints a thrilling 7-6 victory in 9 innings and hand Fremd its first loss of the season.
“I didn’t go the whole game getting on not to get the last one in,” said Perez who finished 5-for-6 with 4 runs scored and a remarkable 6 stolen bases in 6 attempts. “I went up there with a purpose and I got it done.”
St. Charles East rode that momentum to a doubleheader sweep, beating Fremd 6-3 in Game 2.
The Saints (7-4) had the first chance to close out the first game with two outs in the seventh and holding a 5-3 lead. But Fremd first baseman Michelle Mazur had other ideas, lofting a fly ball over the fence in straightaway center for a 2-run home run to tie the game.
“Quality at-bat in that situation,” Fremd coach Jim Weaver said of Mazur’s second home run of the season. Mazur later hit her third home run in the second game.
Fremd put runners at second and third after Mazur’s blast but Saints starter Shannon Pedersen (4-1) induced a comebacker to keep the game tied.
“They had every reason to get us down and we were like, no, we’re not giving up now,” Perez said. “The whole game we have been fighting so let’s just keep on fighting and let’s execute and win this game.”
Fremd (9-2) had the next opportunity to seal a win after Leigh Farina reached on an error and scored on a dropped third strike in the top of the eighth.
But Perez again started a Saints rally with a single and stolen base. Standing at third with two outs, Perez scored the tying run on Fremd’s two-out error.
Fremd retook the lead in the ninth. Mazur led off with a single, moved to second on Caitlin Patenaude’s bunt and scored on Sara Untiedt’s line drive to center.
Fremd starter Rachel Doering (5-1) fanned the first two hitters in the Saints ninth, and it looked like a team would finally record the final out.
But St. Charles East never gave in.
Starting with the seventh hitter in its lineup, Shelby Palomares, the Saints mounted their charge. Palomares singled, Cassie Boles coaxed a walk, and Tess Hupe dropped a soft liner into short left field to load the bases for Perez.
Perez took two balls and then got a pitch she could handle, ripping the ball down the right-field line to easily score the tying and winning runs.
“The whole game I felt like I was dropping my hands and the last time up to bat I thought I need to keep my hands high,” Perez said. “I just had to make that adjustment.”
“We had a chance to close the game out,” Weaver said. “Two out, nobody on you have to close the door. Those are things we practice daily trying to get the 21st out of the game. Just have to execute better all the way around.”
Perez got the Saints off to a quick start. She singled in the first, stole second and third and scored on Olivia Lorenzini’s grounder to second.
The Saints used the same formula to go up 2-0 in the third. Perez singled, stole second and scored on Casey’s Basic single through the hole between short and third.
“Did Lexi have a day today or what?” Saints coach Kelly Horan said.
“I’ve had 4 for 5 (steals) but never that many,” Perez said of her 6 thefts. “Coach gives me the sign and I just run. I definitely practice my jumps and getting a good jump is the key. You don’t have to be that fast but if you get that great jump there’s a good chance you are going to make it.”
Fremd took a 3-2 lead in the fourth on RBI singles from Untiedt, Amanda Matsumoto and Farina.
The Saints answered with three runs in the fifth. Perez reached on an infield single, stole second and scored on a wild pitch. Lorenzini and Basic drew walks, and Pedersen and Kate Peterburs picked up RBI on groundouts.
Peterburs and Palomares each had 2 hits for the Saints.
“I saw for a split second our kids going “aah man” but then collectively as a group they just didn’t back down,” Horan said of her team’s reaction to Mazur’s game-tying homer in the seventh.
“That’s a huge step. They refused to back down. That’s probably what I’m most excited about. There were some fantastic individual performances but it took all of us to not back down.”
Mazur led Fremd going 4-for-5. Untiedt had 3 hits and Ashlynne Schwantz 2.
“St. Charles East outplayed us flat out from the beginning of the game until the end,” Weaver said. “They wanted the game worse than we did.”
Haley Beno (3-3) earned the win in Game 2, scattering 11 hits. Mazur gave Elk Grove a 2-0 lead with her homer in the first, but the Saints took control with three runs in the second on a bases-clearing double to left center by Collalti.
Herdegen also homered for Fremd in the fifth. Collalti (2-for-3, 4 RBI, 2 doubles), Lorenzini (2-for-3, 2 doubles) and Peterburs (2-for-3, double) led the Saints’ attack.
“To beat somebody like Fremd says a lot about the kids I have and their determination,” Horan said.