Softball: Au’s grand slam lifts Palatine in win over Hersey

Freshman Ashley Au is having a blast playing on a 10-1 softball team in her first season at Palatine.

And she showed on Monday she knows something about blasts.

Au crushed a pitch over the right-field fence in the first inning to give the Pirates a lead they never relinquished in an 8-5 triumph over visiting Hersey (6-5, 2-2), which had won five straight games.

Jenna Huber added a 2-homer, her third of the season, in the fourth inning. Quinn Schwartz (2-for-4, reached base four times) had an RBI single to right center in the same inning for a 7-3 lead.

Katie Murphy later produced an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to make it 8-5 to help secure the win for junior ace Mia Woldman (8-0), who struck out 10.

The Pirates, leaders in the Mid-Suburban East at 4-0, won their seventh game in a row heading into Tuesday's MSL crossover game at Barrington (5-0 MSL West).

“I think the key to our success so far is just how everyone works together and relies on each other, knowing that everyone is there to pick each other up when they're down,” Au said.

Thanks to Au's grand slam, Palatine was not down for long after Ava Schafernak's home run as the game's first batter.

“That was pretty sweet,” said Pirates coach Janalee Lyke of Au's grand slam. “She has been making good contact all season and it finally translated over.”

Hersey got to within 5-3 on starting pitcher Gabby Feldman's 2-run homer in the third inning which followed Gianna Baiker's double down the left field line.

After Palatine went ahead 7-3, Hersey got back to within 7-5 thanks to Baiker's 2-run double driving home Cici Steiner and Abby Stonequist.

“Hersey came out to play, they did well,” Lyke added. “But our girls fielded the ground balls. They were ready for them. They fielded pop ups and fly balls. They played very cleanly. We are very happy with them. Mia continued to pitch very well.”

Second baseman Hailey Miramontes made a nice running catch to her left to prevent Bryce McGuinn from starting the top of the seventh with a base hit.

The final two outs of the game came on nifty backhand stops on grounders by shortstop Meghan Czyzowicz. First baseman Sammie Kendrick made a nice scoop for a putout in the fifth inning.

“This is really a great group of girls,” Kendrick said. “We're all really close and before the season we made it a point to go over goals for the season. I think that was really a great way to start it off. Then when you hit a goal, you are more and more motivated and you want to keep working toward all your goals.”

A handful of Pirates had more work to do after the game, heading back to the school for induction into the National Honor Society. The five were juniors Woldman, Hubert, Emily Wheeling, Madelyn Lebo and Hailey Miramontes.

Pirates who are already members of the NHS are seniors Schwartz, Kendrick and Julieta Ottati.

“We value that,” Lyke said of their academic work.

Schafernak (2-for-3, RBI), Baker (2-for-4, 2 doubles), McGuinn (2-for-3, walk) and sophomore Mady Eidle (2-for-4) were top hitters for Hersey.

“Early on, we had way too many strikeouts," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman, who notched her 300th win last week with a 3-0 win at Fremd. “We were looking at a lot of pitches. Once we started swinging, I thought we began hitting a little better.”