Special day for Lynch as Fremd edges Palatine
Friday’s softball game between Fremd and Palatine had a special theme.
It began before the Mid-Suburban West game even started.
Longtime Rolling Meadows teacher and coach Dennis Lynch threw out the first pitch to Vikings catcher Kristine Herdegen.
The Vikings hosted a “non-Hodgkins Lymphoma” day in honor of Lynch, the father-in-law of Fremd coach Jim Weaver and Palatine coach Jeff Manz.
Lynch, whose daughters Laura, Lindsey and Jenna all played in the Fremd softball program, has been battling the slow-moving, non-aggressive cancer for 10 years.
The former football, girls basketball and softball coach is at home with his wife Sharon and will undergo daily radiation treatments and chemotherapy every few weeks.
His daughters, seven grandchildren and son-in-law Marty (a coach at Conant High School) were also on hand.
Players wore lime green socks. There were raffles and donations for the non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma cure and the umpires even wore lime green shirts.
On the field, Fremd rallied with 2 runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to give junior Rachel Doering (12-2) a 3-2 win over the Pirates (19-8, 7-6).
With Conant’s 4-3 loss at Schaumburg, the Cougars own a 1-game lead over Fremd with two to play.
Fremd (22-3-1, 11-3) visits Conant (23-2, 12-2) at 3 p.m. today.
Rain fell during parts of Friday’s game but the Vikings’ bats stayed dry as senior Megan Horn belted a one-out, 2-run double to right center to tie the game at 2-2 in the sixth.
One out later, junior catcher Janelle Schneider (2-for-3) singled home pinch runner Herdegen for the decisive run.
Palatine threatened in the seventh when senior Katie Mnichowicz (2-for-4) led off with a single to left.
Mnichowicz was sacrificed to second by catcher Alyx Ballenger (1-for-2) advanced to third on a groundout to shortstop Allie Gaeding.
Lauren Logan (3 walks) then smashed a grounder to Gaeding’s right.
But the senior shortstop made a terrific backhand stab and fired to first baseman Horn for the game’s final out.
“Unbelievable,” Weaver said of Gaeding’s game-saving play. “That’s Allie Gaeding. She is one of the best defensive shortstops I’ve seen in my 16 seasons here.”
“I felt like (the ball) was going to come to me,” said Gaeding who was 3-for-4. “I just told myself, ‘I’ve got to get this.’ I wasn’t nervous.
“We didn’t want to lose this game for Mr. Weaver. This was a special day and we wanted to support him.”
Weaver introduced his father-in-law before the game.
“It was a miserable day for the weather but it was a beautiful day from the feeling of everyone at the park. We are trying to do something for people who suffer from (non-Hodgkins Lymphoma).
Joanne Jablonski went 1-for-2 with a sacrifice fly to score Mnichowicz and tie the game at 1-1 in the third inning.
Palatine went ahead 2-1 in the fifth when Ballenger connected for an RBI double down the left-field line.
“Their shortstop made a great backhand stop to end the game,” Manz said. “That’s how things went for us. We did a great job of manufacturing our runs and we defensed our way out of a couple of jams.
“But first and foremost, this was about my father-in-law and softball just helped to play a little part. This game was for a bigger cause.”