Softball: Carter’s blast lifts Fremd over Conant

Fremd softball coach Josh Teschner has talked all season about the resiliency of his team.

That intangible was on display in emphatic fashion Thursday at Conant.

After losing a 6-0 lead when the Cougars scored 6 runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Vikings came back in the top of the seventh with a solo home run over the center field fence by sophomore Hadley Carter for a 7-6 triumph to cap Mid-Suburban West division play.

"I wanted to do it for my team," said Carter, who went 2-for-4 from the No. 6 spot. "We really needed a run (in the top of the seventh) . I just wanted to get a spark going for our team and do anything I could."

"When we talk about resilience, she (Carter) is one of those kids," Teschner said. "The one thing about her is how hard she competes in every single at-bat and everything she does."

Senior Molly Kanukpe (7-5), who came in relief of southpaw sophomore Courtney Kubek with the score tied at 6-6 and one out in the fifth, pitched two and two-thirds without giving up a run to earn the win which secured the Vikings a spot in the first conference playoffs (four teams) in Mid-Suburban League softball history.

"We definitely set that as a goal," Teschner said of reaching the final four for the MSL title game. "Any time there is a new way things are set up, you want to make sure you're one of the first to be a part of it and have a chance to play for the championship."

The Vikings (13-6-1, 7-3), who took second place by two games over Conant (13-6, 5-5), will play at MId-Suburban West champion Palatine on Tuesday.

"We have a very new team this season and it has taken a little time to adjust,m" said Vikings veteran second second baseman Amanda Poniecki, who will study at Miami University (OH) next fall and study finance and accounting., "But I think the younger players, especially the freshmen and sophomores, really put the in their work to get us were are right now."

Conant junior Cailyn Kehoe got the Cougars into the tie by slugging her first homer, a 3-run blast with one out in the bottom of the fifth to cap the big inning.

"I just wanted to do the job and get the runner's home," said Kehoe, who narrowly missed a homer in the fourth inning when Audrie Corrado made a superb catch right in front of centerfield fence. "It was a good game. We could have hit a little better at the beginning bit we came back and put our bats together and did a good job."

"Cailyn Kehoe came through in the clutch," said Conant assistant Kelly Wolff. "It was a heartbreaking loss. We dug ourselves a hole. Four errors can do that to you but we bounced back nicely."

Fremd put Conant in a hole by drawing two walks to start the game and scoring on a fielder's choice by Suzanna Grossman and a 2-run single to center by Corrado. Poniecki, who doubled to lead off the inning and Carter (walk) scored on Corrado's .

Catcher Emily Usalis' led off the second inning with a single to center and scored on an infield error one batter later.

The Vikes stretched the lead to 6-0 in third on a 2-run single by Usalis (2-for-3, walk), who caught Kubeck and Kanupke.

"Molly had an AP test that she worked her butt off for so she was a little late for the game," Teschner said. "Courtney pitched a beautiful game with the exception of one inning and then Molly came right back and picked her up which is one of those things we talked about when we discuss resilience."

Freshman Morgan Schiffner and sophomore Sophia Gomez led off Conant's fifth inning with base hits and sophomore Payton Ackman had a big 2-run double to left center. Juniors Jenny Ryan and Grace Reed (3-for-3) also singled in the inning.

Kiana Leoplodo, the Cougars only starting senior, reached base in her first three at-bats, including a base hit in the first inning.

Conant starter Ackman struck out six in the first five innings and freshman Adler Long had 4 strikeouts in the final two innings.

"Even after falling behind I don't think we ever lost our tempo or believing in ourselves and what we can do," Wolff added. "It was a hard loss after you fight back the way we did. We've just got to fix these errors we made early in the game. You've got to play perfect defense against a team like Fremd. We have a lot of respect for them. They are playing well just like we are. I think we showed ourselves that we can come back. Being down 6-0 is a lot of runs."'

Teschner was proud of the way his team reacted after losing the 6-0 lead,

"It's a resilient bunch," he said. "I felt we were really locked in the first few innings showing what we could do. And then we just fell asleep against a really good team and they came back on us. So that happens. I'm just really excited about the way they responded and were able to come back for the victory.":