Cook County softball notes: Freshmen provide boost for Wheeling; Woldman delivering gem after gem for Palatine

If you were at any of Wheeling's first games this season, one thing was for sure.

You saw a freshman on the mound.

That's because Olivia Aquino pitched every inning, sporting a 3.61 ERA and a 3-2 record, 1-0 in the Mid-Suburban East.

The right-hander fired a no-hitter at Maine East. Saving the gem was Wildcats freshman Tori D elfosse's shoestring catch to end the game.

Seniors Alaina Costello and Viansa Pollina are hitting over .500 over the first five games and sophomore Caitlyn Fitzgerald was .400.

Sophomore Harper Foley had 3 hits in a 9-7 win over Rolling Meadows.

Palatine: Junior pitcher Mia Woldman has done an exceptional job in the circle, throwing multiple no-hitters and sharing a perfect game with junior pitcher Hailey Miramontes.

Woldman, a Loyola pledge, has surpassed 400 career strikeouts

Four-year varsity returner and senior Vicky Miramontes will be returning after rehabbing a broken wrist.

"We are excited to have her back and contributing to the team," said Pirates coach Janalee Lyke whose team is off to 5-1 start and 1-0 in the division. "We are excited about our offense starting to pick up, scoring 10-plus runs in our last two games, with contributions all throughout our lineup. This has allowed us to score in multiple innings."

Elk Grove: Preventing runs was an impressive trait for hall of fame coach Ken Grams' Grenadiers (4-3) in their four games last week. They made only two errors and the pitching has picked things up a notch, losing 1-0 to Schaumburg which is 7-0.

Leading the way on the mound were Brianna Magner (0.56 ERA, 12 IP, 13 K) and Bella Aguirre (1.54 ERA, 9 IP, 7K, 1 BB).

Rolling Meadows: The Mustangs had a dramatic win last Saturday, scoring nine runs in the top of the seventh to edge Wauconda 13-12.

It was Meadows' largest comeback in program history.

Mustangs senior Mary Linker belted a grand slam to give her team the lead in the top of the seventh inning with one out.

Freshman Brynley Heffernan earned her first varsity win in relief.

Schaumburg: The Saxons (7-0) won three more games last week, including a 14-8 win over Wheaton North.

Leading Schaumburg's offense were Evelyn Blahnik (3-for-5, 3 RBI), Taylor Dolecki (3-for-4, 3 runs), Sarah Donohue (2-for-4, 3 RBI), Francheska Manding (2-for-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs), Gianna Tagler (2-for-4 , 2 runs) and Alana Nieto, the Saxons' freshman pitcher who struck out 11.

Buffalo Grove: The Bison (3-5, 0-2) went 2-3 last week.

"It was a week of learning for us," said BG coach Martha Kelly. "We made a turn finishing the week on a two- game win streak."

In their two victories at the end of the week, the Bison cut down on their strikeouts and errors.

At the plate, the underclassmen led the charge with sophomore Lily Kim hitting .438 over the course of the week. Freshman Annie Sadowski hit .412 while junior Brookly Edler got into her rhythm , hitting .375. Classmate Natalie Whitson chipped in 5 hits while batting .333.

Sophomore Maddie Haber and Whitson took charge on the mound, with ERAs of 3.00 and 2.00, respectively. The two of them combined for 22 strikeouts.

Barrington: Fillies senior center fielder Nina Brebach had a huge day last Saturday, going 6-for-7 with 4 runs scored in a doubleheader sweep of Jacobs. She is currently fourth on the Barrington all-time career batting average list with a .457 average, trailing only Emma Kavanagh, a 2024 graduate now at Arizona, at .493, Allie Goodwin, a 2023 graduate at Princeton, who at .482, and Ainsley Muno, a 2023 graduate at Northwestern, at .477.

Brebach has 86 hits, 93 runs and 40 stolen bases during her four years with the Fillies.

"Nina is a huge part of our offensive production at the top of the order," said hall of fame coach Perry Peterson whose team is yet to lose in 12 games this season. "And we have high expectations for Nina every day to keep our team moving in the right direction."

Prospect: The Knights' pitching has been solid this spring.

Coach Krystina's Mackowiak's club (6-3) opened MSL West play with an 8-1 decision over Buffalo Grove.

Junior Megan Maresco was dominant in the circle, striking out 11 of the 13 hitters she faced. Freshman Charlotte Machel came in to handle the final three innings to secure the win.

Last Saturday, Liz Aicher delivered in a big moment, blasting a two-run home run over the center field fence to lift Prospect to a 3-2 victory over Maine West. Lina Calvacacca was outstanding in relief of Machel, striking out six of the nine batters she faced while allowing no hits.

Maine South: The Hawks finally started their season last week, going 1-2 with a win to DePaul College Prep and losses to Niles West and Niles North.

"The bats have been working and we have put up some runs," said Hawks coach Emmy Paiser. "We are confident that defense and some new arms in the circle will come around soon."

St. Viator: The Lions' pitching injuries continued this week as coach John Scotillo had to sideline a second pitcher.

Fortunately, senior pitcher lsabella DiMarco has saved the team by powering through the majority of the innings.

"Another plus is that our bats have stayed hot, scoring 36 runs in the last 5 games," Scotillo said.

The top of the Lions' lineup (Kayli Burke, Mia Lund, Ava Moreno and Lia Horn) has supplied most of the offense with a combined batting average of .370, 23 hits, 18 runs and 12 RBI.

Maine West: Maine West went 1-2 last week, closing it out with a 3-2 loss at Prospect on Saturday.

The Warriors' leading hitter for the week was Ava Roback (3-for-7, double, triple). Kara Lindenmuth added a double against Prospect.

Coach Chris Addante said there was some "really good defensive catches" in the outfield by Brooke Mattson against Prospect.

"And pitching has been great with Amanda Oshinski throwing 15 innings over the three games with 19 strikeouts, 5 walks, 2 earned runs and an ERA at 0.93, Addante added.

"The team has been getting much needed reps and performing much better as of late. We have one player who played her current position last year. Otherwise, every player is new or playing a new position. Game experience is only going to help. We are expecting to get better and better each and every week."