Brottman strikes again as Fremd prevails
There's a new softball strikeout queen at Fremd High School, and she is a modest one.
A few minutes after striking out 16 batters in a 1-0 shutout at Schaumburg, junior Lena Brottman was taking her new title in stride.
"It's awesome, but I only like looking at the stats as long as my team wins," said Brottman (15-2) after falling two strikeouts short of her career-high 18. "That's the most important thing. I'll take a win any day over the strikeouts."
Fremd improved to 22-2 an 10-1 in the Mid-Suburban West. Barrington leads the division at 12-1
Brottman now has 623 strikeouts, surpassing the former school record of 610 set by Stacy Gillette in 2006.
Brottman's first nine outs were strikeouts. She limited the Saxons (14-10, 7-5) to 3 hits.
Fremd's biggest hits came back-to-back after Saxons ace Missy Anderson (11-7) got the first two outs in the top of the sixth.
Junior second baseman Lauren Zaworski grounded a chopper up the middle for a base hit.
Senior first baseman Jessica Tackett took care of the rest.
She clubbed a double off the base of the left-field fence and the heads-up Zaworski raced all the way home from first.
"It was big hit by Tackett and great base running Zaworski," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. "I just decided I had to take a shot there and was going to send her home. She did the rest."
Tackett went 2-for-3 and also made a nifty over-the -shoulder grab of Aly Poehlmann's pop foul in the bottom of the sixth.
Fremd also defeated Schaumburg 1-0 the first time in Palatine.
"It was the same as last time," said Tackett, who plans to study English and creative writing at Northwestern University. "Our conference is just amazing. You can't take anything away from anyone and Schaumburg is just another great program.
"Lena was huge for us. But we have to play good defense behind her, too, and she has confidence in us."
Schaumburg's 3 hits were an infield single to lead off the first by Alexis Carravetta, a one-out double by Nicole Chase in the fourth and a leadoff single to right by Theresa McGreevy in the fifth.
"It was a great game all around," said Schaumburg coach Erin Malinowski about a game in which neither team committed an error. "Missy did a great job on the mound. Our defense was solid. They hit a lot of hard balls at us. I'm proud of how we're playing defense.
"Fremd is a good team. They hit the ball hard and strung those 2 hits together at the right time."
Buffalo Grove 4, Rolling Meadows 3: Sophomore Maria Dax (7-2) was the winning pitcher for the Bison (16-13, 4-8) who won with a run in the bottom of the seventh.
After two were out, sophomore Danni Shaprio reached first on an outfield error. She came all the way home to score when Nicole Soderholm singled and an error was made on the play.
Soderholm (2-for-3), Meg Miller (2-for-3, 1 run) and K.C. Dunne (2-for-4) led the BG offense.
Senior shortstop Maddy Urban went 3-for-4 for the Mustangs (10-15, 5-7) with a run.
Meadows had runners on second and third with one out in the top of the seventh but the Bison got out of the jam when freshman shortstop Sara Penelle fielded a grounder and threw home to catcher Dunne for the second out. Dax then struck out the next batter.
Freshman Josie Suchecki (6-10) struck out two in 42/3 innings for Meadows and Kayla Mueller had 1 strikeout the rest of the way.
Hoffman Estates 3, Conant 0: Senior ace Kaitlin Walsh (8-9) struck out seven and threw a 1-hitter for Hoffman (11-14, 6-7).
The senior right-hander lost her no-hit bid when Lauren Ambrose singled between short and third with one out in the sixth inning.
Walsh had a busy day, as she also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run and RBI.
Sophomore Kelsey Pellus, freshman Linden Fick and senior Kaitlyn Kliver also collected hits for Hoffman.
Briana Cavin (5-9) put in another solid effort for the Cougars (9-14, 3-7) as the freshman right-hander struck out 11.
Wheeling 6, Hersey 5: Scout Scanlon (2-for-4, RBI, run), Becky Mennelle (2-for-4. 2 doubles, RBI), Alyssa Fallon (2-for-4, double, RBI) and Samie Spinabella (3-for-4, triple, RBI) led the host Wildcats (3-14, 1-10), who received a 3-hitter from Sejal Shah.
Haley Henriksen, Kari Tunney and Aubrey Fulton each doubled for the Huskies (5-17, 4-9) while Fulton also had a triple.
The Wildcats scored the winning run in the bottom of the seventh.
The bases were loaded with two outs when freshman Amanda Zammatta came home on a dropped third strike.
Barrington 4, Palatine 0: Kim Cygan (23-2) threw a 2-hitter with 6 strikeouts and 1 walk to record her 15th shutout for the Fillies (26-2, 12-1).
Colleen Shandley went 2-for-4 for Barrington while teammate Jordan Wekony was 1-for-1 with a double and 2 walks.
Chrissy Roto (7-9) had 5 strikeouts for Palatine (11-13, 5-7).
Elk Grove 5, Prospect 3: Senior catcher Nikki Goranson's 2-run homer to left center field in the top of the sixth proved to be the difference in Mount Prospect.
With the victory, the Grenadiers (23-2, 11-1) clinched an eighth Mid-Suburban East title in then last nine years under coach Ken Grams.
Caitlin Garrison (2-for-4), Stephanie Maday (2-for-3), Jessica Balzano (2-for-4) and Amanda Mertes (2-for-3) led the offense as every Elk Grove starter had at least 1 hit.
Maday (13-2) pitched 62/3 innings to earn the win, striking out six.
Junior Kaila Walter's single brought home Lisa Dominick and Nikki Surico for Prospect's 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth which tied the game. Katie Dillon also had an RBI single for the hosts (6-19, 4-8).
After Goranson's blast, Roback came back with a double. However, Stephanie Dolce was robbed of an RBI when Knights second baseman Lisa Dominick dove her to right to catch a line drive.
The Grenadiers outhit Prospect 13-4.
Leyden 1, Antioch 0: Freshman Morgan Maize (15-10) fired a 3-hitter with 10 strikeouts and 1 walk for Leyden (15-10), which recorded a double from sophomore Christina Morgan.