Palatine heats up; Barrington, EG and Fremd sweep

Playing its best softball of the season according to coach Jeff Manz, Palatine won two games Saturday to claim the championship of its own quadrangular.

The Pirates stopped Glenbrook North 3-1 and Jacobs 5-2 to even their overall record at 4-4.

Junior ace Chrissy Roto (2-4) struck out 12 while throwing a 4-hitter against the Spartans.

Junior Heather Zimmerman had a double and 2 RBI for the Pirates while senior Kelsey Griffin doubled with an RBI. Katie Mnichowicz had a stolen base.

Sophomore Danielle Boisvert picked up the win against Jacobs as she struck out four and threw a 7-hitter.

Junior Meaghan Deegan had 2 RBI for the Pirates while classmate Katie Nawrot (double), sophomore Katie Scovic and sophomore Joanne Jablonski had one apiece.

Mnichowicz and Scovic each had stolen bases.

"We played our best softball of the season," Manz said. "We talked about playing as a team. We got on base and moved the runners around. And our defense, along with our pitching, held up the whole day."

Barrington sweeps: Senior Kim Cygan (12-1) picked up two more wins as the Fillies (12-1) shut out Prairie Ridge 1-0 and Johnsburg 2-0.

Cygan struck out 10 in a complete game against Prairie Ridge.

The Fillies' run came in the first inning when Colleen Shandley led off with a walk and Lindsey Dulla followed with an infield hit.

Cygan sacrificed the runners to second and third before Shandley came home on Kiersten Tinkoff's groundout to second.

Kristin Kuhn and Jordan Wekony also had hits for Barrington.

In Game 2, the Fillies defeated Dayton recruit Amanda Daly by getting 7 hits off the Skyhawks' ace.

Freshman Kelsey Kazmier singled home Nora Logue with two outs in the second inning and Tinkoff's double brought home Dulla with one out in the fifth.

Cygan struck out six in the first four innings while Kiley Dolezal went the final three and also struck out six.

Elk Grove sweeps: Elk Grove (10-1) won 5-1 and 12-0 (5 innings) over Niles West in Skokie.

Elk Grove got two-out homers from junior Olivia Roback (2-run), senior Nikki Goranson (3-run) and freshman Megan Keegan (grand slam).

Winning pitcher Krystina Leazer (3 innings, 4 strikeouts) and Stephanie Maday (4 innings, 11 strikeouts) teamed up in Game 1 for the Grenadiers, who were led on offense by Roback (2-for-3, 2 RBI, 2 runs, home run, double), Amanda Mertes (2-for-4, 2 runs) and Nikki Goranson (2-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI).

Freshman Dani Goranson (4-0) earned the win in Game 2, striking out six in three innings. Leazer (2-0) went the final two, striking out four.

Nikki Goranson went 3-for-3 with 3 RBI and 3 runs while Mertes was 3-for-3 with 2 runs. Keegan blasted her grand slam in the first inning over the left-field fence.

Fremd sweeps: The Vikings (7-1) picked up a pair of 12-1 victories in Mundelein.

Game 1 went 5 innings and started with small and long ball by the Vikings.

Kristine Werling (3-for-4, 1 run, RBI) and Jenny Schneider (2-for-3, 1 run) opened with bunt singles and Lauren Zaworski followed with a 3-run blast over the left-field fence.

Cleanup hitter Jessica Tackett (2-for-2, 2 runs, RBI) then homered off the center-field scoreboard.

Teammate Tess Dinterman belted a homer over the right-field fence in the second inning and Ali Gaeding also went 2-for-3 with 2 runs and an RBI.

Lena Brottman (5-1) struck out 12 batters in the first four innings to notch the win while junior Erin Kondrat went the fifth inning with 1 strikeout.

The second game went 6 innings, senior Casey Latal (2-0) struck out six and fired a 4-hitter.

Schneider (2-for-4, 2 RBI, home run), Alexa Cinquegrani (2-for-3, 3 runs, RBI) and Tess Dinterman (2 doubles, 2-for-3) led the offense.

Schaumburg splits: Schaumburg (5-1) blanked Johnsburg 8-0 behind senior Missy Anderson (4-0), who struck out 10 and walked none.

Aly Poehlmann, Nicole Chase, Brianne Lingl and Sarah McGinn each had 2 hits for the Saxons, who lost their second game 1-0 to Prairie Ridge.

In that game, Saxons sophomore pitcher Jessica Cook (1-1) took a liner off her stomach in the first inning and still threw the runner out at first. Cook went on to finish the contest.

"That was a real shot that Jessica took," said Saxons coach Erin Doyle. "She was fantastic for us. And it was a good defensive game."

Chase's single in the fifth inning was the only hit for Schaumburg.

Woodstock Invite: Conant (5-7) went 1-2 with its win coming over the host school 8-5 in eight innings.

Junior Lauren Ambrose started the Cougars' 3-run eighth with an RBI double to score Kailee Prasbrig (2-1), who earned the win for Conant with a 6-hitter and 10 strikeouts.

Ambrose, Kim Jacobson and Paige Ward (2 doubles) all had 2 hits for the Cougars. Jessica Gennuso also doubled for Conant.

Cougars freshman Brianna Cavin suffered a tough eight-inning, 3-2 loss to Crystal Lake South. Dana Butler's pinch-hit double scored Ward to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the sixth.

Conant also dropped a 4-2 decision to Lake Zurich. Jacobson's double was one of the Cougars' 3 hits off Bears sophomore Megan Mattera.

Hoffman Estates 5, St. Viator 0: Senior Alex Wulbecker belted pair of doubles for Hoffman, which received a 2-hitter from senior Kaitlin Walsh in Arlington Heights.

Walsh struck out six while Lions pitcher Melanie Slawny had 3 strikeouts.

Colleen Roberts and Mary Hacker also had hits for Hoffman while Slawny and Tayler Lenart collected singles for the Lions.

BG falls twice: Host Vernon Hills (3-1) posted wins of 15-5 and 6-3 over the Bison (7-4) as sophomores Emily Begnel (3-2) and Andrea DiPrima (4-2) suffered the losses.

Prospect falls twice: Downers Grove North posted 4-2 and 11-1 victories over Prospect (1-9) in Mount Prospect.