Softball: Fremd's hot hitting makes for fun afternoon

With her 5-2 record, Fremd sophomore Hailey Lucas has been very good in the pitcher's circle this spring.

But her teammate Laurnen Graham has also been very good, and she handled those duties on Friday, running her record to 6-2 with a 9-hitter and 14-4 Mid-Suburban West softball win at Palatine (8-4, 3-3).

But don't think for a minute that Lucas had the day off.

In fact, she made it a long day for Palatine pitchers.

Fremd coach Josh Teschner penciled Lucas into the cleanup spot as the designated player. All she did was go 3-for-4 with 5 RBI and her eighth homer of the season, a first-pitch two-out 3-run blast to center that gave Graham the 14-4 lead in the top of the seventh.

"Hailey Lucas is amazing," said Ryanne Goodwin. "We love her for that."

Teschner and the Vikings (11-4, 5-1) also loved Goodwin's bat on Friday.

The senior left fielder crushed a 240-foot homer over the left center fence with two outs and a 2-1 count in the fifth inning for an 8-2 lead. It followed Sydney Sheedy's blast over the right center fence.

Batting in the No, 9 spot, Goodwin (2-for-4) reached base three times and scored 3 runs.

"The best thing about it is that Ryanne has been adjusting all season," Teschner said. "That was a short, compact, smoked line drive home run. It was beautiful and good to see."

Fremd fans got to see the Vikings club 16 hits, including three apiece from Taylor Piento (3-for-5, triple, RBI), Anna Poss (3-for-5, 2 RBI, 4 runs) and Lucas, who also had a walk.

"I'm glad to contribute to the success of Lauren (Graham) and contribute to the offense," Lucas said. "I'm just thinking I have to hit the ball hard and get a base hit for my team. I'm just happy to do that."

"Hailey is the kind of person who whether she is in a circle or at the plate, she is looking to be in control," Teschner said. "So with the bat she is going to jump on pitches and drive in runs. As a pitcher, she is going to try to command the zone early, and try to finish you late with a little bit of working off the plate. That is who she is. She loves the spotlight and she wants to dominate every moment."

Also getting hits for Fremd were Chiara D'Antonio (2-for-5, double, 2 RBI, 2 runs) and Avery Sadorf (2-for-5, RBI).

Leading the Palatine offense were Angie Delgado (2-for-4, RBI) and Nicole Marceau (2-for-4). Teammates Payton Westphal, Lindsay Plourde, starting pitcher Holly Steffuss, Lauren Dettloff and Jolie DeValk, who lined out sharply to center in the seventh inning, each had 1 hit.

"We were aggressive up and down the lineup," said Palatine coach Nicole Pauly Capalbo. "We left eight runners on base so we were not getting timely hits. But we got good at-bats throughout the lineup.

"Obviously Fremd is a good team. We can't give up that many runs. We made too many mistakes. You can't make 5 errors and beat a team like Fremd."

Next up for Fremd is a MSL West date with state-ranked Barrington (4-0 in the West) on Monday.

"We knew going into this week against the West teams things were going to get harder," Teschner said. "They were hard enough against the East teams (first three crossovers). But it's good to come here and get a little momentum rolling before we host the Fillies in what is going to be, as always, two behemoths going after each other, which will be fun."

And Goodwin will attest to the fun part of playing Fremd softball.

"It's a lot of fun in the dugout," she said. "I hear my girls cheering and they always give me a lot of high-fives before I go out and bat. It just puts a smile on my face."

The Vikes had plenty to smile about on Friday.