Softball: Neuman keeps Conant on top in MSL West

Three games after she collected her 300th career win, Conant softball coach CathyAnn Smith was back at home where she began her high school career as a standout southpaw pitcher.

Smith threw many pitches on the Schaumburg High School softball mound where she sent ace Sara Neuman to perform on Thursday.

The senior right-hander also felt right at home.

Picking up from a suspended game from April 25, Neuman threw 4 scoreless innings to close out a 4-1 victory over the host Saxons in a key Mid-Suburban League West contest.

Neuman struck out nine in the 4 innings, giving her 14 for the game in which she allowed 4 hits, only one on Thursday.

The Cougars (16-2, 10-0) remain the only team in the MSL without a loss.

They own a 2-game lead in the loss column over Barrington (9-2), Fremd (8-2) and Schaumburg (8-2) with six to play.

"Sara has been pitching well," said Cougars assistant coach Kelly Wolff. "She came out focused, got the team behind her and they backed her up."

"I knew the last time we played them I was struggling and they were making contact," Neuman said. "I had to make sure I had my spins today and giddy-up on the ball.

"I knew they (Schaumburg) would come back strong for this. But I knew we would, too. So I just had to be in the right mindset."

She's been in a groove all season and on Thursday her wins reached 13, the same number on her catcher Dream Aaron's jersey.

The undefeated Neuman made sure her team didn't need to score at all on Thursday.

But the Cougars did give her an insurance run in the top of the seventh.

With two outs, junior clean up batter Morgan Bihun lined a single to right scoring Jackie Burchfield, who had drawn a one-out walk.

That was the only hit Paige Alt (9-4) gave up on Thursday as the senior right-hander struck out four (seven for the game) and gave up only 1 hit in the 4 innings.

Alt finished as Schaumburg's top hitter in the game. She had a home run and double in the first three innings to go 2-for-2 with a walk.

"Paige was strong," said Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu. "We had some good at-bats. We were seeing a lot of pitches."

The Saxons had runners on first and second with one in the sixth but Neuman escaped by striking out the side.

Schaumburg threatened again in the seventh with runners on the corners after Sarah Schwind reached on an error and Michelle Birkholz on an infield single after two were out.

But Neuman was able to get her 14th strikeout to keep Conant perfect in the West.

"It's an especially nice win because we play on the same summer teams with a lot of their players," Neuman said. "It's almost like they're our 'crosstown rival' and always a big game for us.

"It's my senior year and I'd like to see us doing something big with my incredible team behind me. But we just go one game at a time."

Bihun ended up 3-for-4 in the game while Aaron was 2-for-2 with 2 doubles and a walk.

"We will see them (Conant) again on the 13th (a week from today)," Abreu said "We need solid defense, solid pitching and good at-bats."

"Any time you play Schaumburg, it's a great game," Wolff said. "Their kids are great."