Softball: Fremd, Hersey will meet in 50th MSL championship game
When Fremd hosts Hersey on Thursday, it will mark the 50th time the Mid-Suburban League will hold a softball championship game.
Eighth-year Fremd coach Josh Teschner is bringing his first team to the MSL title game while Hersey coach Molly Freeman, a former Fremd standout center fielder, has coached the East champ Huskies (21-4) to three MSL title game appearances in her 17 seasons.
The two teams hooked up in a terrific game on April 12 in Palatine.
The MSL crossover featured a terrific pitching duel between Fremd junior Hailey Lucas and Hersey junior Ariya Patel.
The game was scoreless through 8 innings before Avery Sadorf's walk off grand slam ended it 4-0 in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Hersey is making its 14th appearance in the title game. Its first was in 1975 when it defeated Prospect 15-13 and most recently in 2019, a 4-2 loss to Palatine. The Huskies are 6-7 in the showcase event.
Fremd (20-3) has played in the game six previous times, winning three of them. The Vikes' first appearance was in 1976 when they lost to Hoffman Estates and their last one was in 2010 when the Vikings edged Elk Grove 1-0.
Barrington: Barrington (23-5) won 20 or more games for the 32nd consecutive season. The team's hitting has produced another stellar campaign. With 82 doubles, 9 triples and 39 home runs, the Fillies lean on their ability to hit in order to produce victories. Senior catcher Emma Kavanagh tied the single-season school home run record last Friday with her 18th. The Arizona pledge's career total now equals 62 home runs, only three shy of tying the IHSA state record at 65 by Bailey Dowling of St. Joseph-Ogden.
Conant: The Cougars’ bats have come to life with 9 home runs in the last week by Isabella Portogallo (3), Ava Falcone (2), Charlotte Wolf (1), Tia Splitgerber (1), Elena Czosnyka (1) and Liv Mickelson (1).
The Cougars blanked Palatine, 9-0. Sophomore pitcher Dani Gemmel has been performing well on the mound racking up 31 strikeouts in the last four games. The Cougars closed out the week by celebrating their seven seniors with a win over Hoffman Estates.
Maine West: Maine West has won eight games in a row with a 61-7 run differential in those games. Thursday night they defeated Vernon Hills 9-4 to finish 8-0 and clinch the CSL North.
Kaitlyn Marsh has been dominant in the circle with more than 165 strikeouts and a 1.01 ERA.
Shortstop Abigail Garcia has been on a hitting tear, batting .689 on the season with a 1.213 slugging percentage.
Leadoff hitter and second baseman Leiaha Cardona is batting .476 with 27 stolen bases.
"We have been getting key contributions from all the players in the lineup," said Warriors co-coach Jim Dvorak, whose team defeated Elmwood Park, 6-0. Garcia belted a homer and triple in the game.
Maine South: Maeve Strotman belted her first varsity home run for Maine South (15-4, 8-1) when the Hawks celebrated Senior Day with an 11-1 win over Highland Park. Alumni from as far back as 1991 were in attendance.
Prior to that the Hawks lost 2-0 to Fremd and 7-4 to Loyola.
"In both games we had opportunities to score a few runs but not enough," said Hawks coach Emmy Pasier. "We are looking forward to playing some good ball in the last few games before we start our postseason run."
Palatine: The Pirates got their biggest win of the season over Fremd eight days ago with a walkoff shot by senior Grace Adame, who had all 4 RBI in the Pirates’ 4-3 win. Adame (.447, 42 hits, 21 RBI), senior Angie Delgado (.383, 41 hits, 35 runs) and freshman Mia Woldman (157 strikeouts) have been key catalysts for the Pirates.
Prospect: Despite a couple of tough weeks and unfortunately a lot of injuries this spring, coach Krystina Mackowiack likes the way her team has battled its way through every game. In an 8-1 win over Wheeling, No. 1 and 2 hitters Gabby Dilan (freshman) and Gina Falls (junior) belted back-to-back home runs.
"Lina (Calvacca) has done a great job on the mound," Mackowiack said. "And our goal is to have a strong finish to this season."
Prospect got a big win on Monday, defeating MSL East champ Hersey 4-1 behind a big effort from Calvacca. Dilan, Rachael Sasanuma and Gianna Catanzano had clutch hits for the Knights.