Elk Grove powers past Schaumburg

The Elk Grove girls softball team used a combination of power, defense, experience and youth to capture the Class 4A regional it hosted Saturday.

Senior shortstop Olivia Roback, sophomore catcher Devan Parkison and junior center fielder Kristen Cetkovic each belted 2-run homers as senior pitcher Stephanie Maday (16-2) and sophomore Dani Goranson (17-2) shut down the Schaumburg offense for a 9-1 Elk Grove victory,

"We've scored a lot of runs through home runs," said Grens coach Ken Grams. "We wanted to come out like a high-energy train and Olivia's home run fueled us."

Right into Wednesday's 4:30 p.m. St. Charles North sectional semifinal against 12th-seed Geneva (21-16), which won its own regional by upsetting No. 4 Lake Park 4-2 in 8 innings.

The Grenadiers improved to 33-4, tying the school record for single-season wins.

After sending all nine hitters to the plate in the first inning, Elk Grove did the same in the second, this time scoring all 5 of their runs with two outs and Parkison led the way.

"We try to score early and get runs first," said the sophomore catcher. "I just tried to get a base hit, but the ball hit the bat in the right spot."

While the Grens' offense started out hot, the pitching certainly followed suit. Maday gave up 1 run on 6 hits in 3 innings and Goranson pitched 4 scoreless innings without surrendering a hit.

"(Maday and Goranson) are strong pitchers. They both take over the game," Parkison said. "They're different. Dani (Goranson) is a power pitcher and (Stephanie) Maday throws junk.

"We give different looks," said Maday. "It takes time (for hitters) to adjust. It works to our advantage."

Goranson was fortunate to enter the game with a 7-run lead.

"There's a lot less pressure pitching with a lead, and I know the team has my back," she said.

Schaumburg sophomore pitcher Alyssa Lancaster (21-11) settled down after the first 2 innings, giving her team a chance to come back, but the Saxons (24-11) were unable to generate much offense.

"She's a good pitcher," Grams said. "We beat her 3-2 last time we played. We responded well to her this."

"We stayed tough," said Saxons coach Erin Malinowski. "We showed a lot of heart like we've done all season. We just couldn't get big hits when we needed them."