Softball: Wulf stymies Fremd, leads St. Charles East to sectional championship
There were only so many chances to go around in Saturday’s pitcher’s duel, so St. Charles East cleanup hitter Lexi Majkaszak knew she had to come through when she was given a second chance.
In the Bartlett Class 4A sectional championship against Fremd, Majkaszak singled home the game’s only run in the bottom of the fifth as the Saints (31-8) edged the Vikings 1-0 to advance to Monday’s supersectional against Marist.
The Saints right fielder, who had made the third out in the third inning and stranded a runner at third base, knew she needed to come through in the fifth with the score still tied 0-0 and Vikings pitcher Molly Kanupke matching St. Charles East ace Hannuh Wulf scoreless frame by scoreless frame.
With runners at the corners and two outs, Majkaszak fell behind in the count 0-2 before hitting a sharp grounder up the middle. Vikings second baseman Amanda Poniecki dove to her right to field the ball, bounced up quickly and fired the ball to first. The throw was a little low and not fielded cleanly as Majkaszak sprinted past the bag for an infield single that scored Morgan Beers, who had singled with one out.
“My last at-bat I was in kind of the same situation and I didn’t pull through,” said Majkaszak, who went 2-for-3 in the game with the lone RBI. “I took a deep breath and said I need to get this hit and score this run because I don’t know how we’re going to score others runs. I hit it and I just ran as fast as I could and the person on third scored and it was great.”
That was all the Saints Wulf needed, as the South Carolina recruit tossed a 1-hitter with 8 strikeouts while improving to 14-4 on the year. With both pitchers sharp, neither one deserved to lose and as great as Wulf was on Saturday, her and her teammates couldn’t relax until the final play of the game, when Fremd had the tying run at third in the top of the seventh as Avery Sheridan lined out to right field.
“They both pitched great. The number of runners in scoring position for both sides was significant,” said Saints coach Jarod Gutesha, who has now guided the Saints to two straight supersectional berths. “I know we ended up having more chances, but we couldn’t scratch one across earlier and then we finally did.
“Lexi did a nice job just putting the bat on the ball and putting it up the middle. It turned out that was the difference in the game.”
Second-seeded St. Charles East loaded the bases in the first inning, but Kanupke (12-6) retired the next two batters. The Saints would also advance runners to third base in the third and fourth innings but the Vikings all-conference and all-area pitcher worked out of those jams to keep the game scoreless.
“We knew coming into it that it was going to be ultimately a pitchers’ duel,” Fremd coach Josh Teschner said. “It was going to come down to who could withstand each other, one way or the other putting the ball in play. Obviously when it comes down to it, when you have runners in scoring position you’ve got to find a way to get a hit. Today that’s ultimately what hurt us.”
Wulf allowed just one hit — a single by Suzanna Grosman in the sixth — and one walk. But things got a little interesting at times as she hit four batters and set up some scoring chances for the Vikings. She hit Anna Montella with a high, inside curveball to start the sixth and then Grosman’s single made it two runners on with none out. But Wulf proceeded to struck out the next three hitters to preserve the shutout and protect the 1-0 lead.
“An off day for me there today. But aside from that (control) I trusted my catcher, Hayden Sujack. She called a great game and that’s all I can ask for,” said Wulf. “I knew I had to lock it back in after that one (hit). It feels great. I hadn’t won a sectional yet in high school so this is pretty exciting for me.”
Kanupke, who tossed a 3-hitter as the Vikings beat top-seeded St. Charles North in the sectional semifinals, pitched well enough on Saturday to win, but it was just not to be.
“I’m just so proud of my team,” the senior said. “Especially this week. At practice we just focused on having fun. Everything else past the last game was like a bonus. We really honed in on focusing to have fun today and whatever happened, happened.
“Obviously, we came up a little short but I’m still real happy with how everyone played. Me and the other pitcher were both working so hard. Either one of us could have won that game.”