McCarthy becomes Fremd's top base thief

Last Saturday, during a twinbill with visiting Libertyville, one of the fastest girls to play softball in the Mid-Suburban League etched her name into the Fremd record books.

Senior Kayln McCarthy broke the program record for stolen bases when she swiped No. 111 in Game 2.

The Vikings won boths ends of the doubleheader to raise their record to 9-2.

McCarthy, a four-year starter, surpassed the former record of 2016 Alyssa Garcia (110 in 128 games), who now plays for Butler University.

It was McCarthy's 75th high school game.

Rounding out the top five base stealers for Fremd are Mandi Matsumoto (2013), Abby Iuorio (2016), Kristine Werling (2010), Donna Werling (2004), Allie Gaeding (2011), Michelle Gorzelle (2007), Megan Hubbard (2012) Cathy Veller (1993), Brittany Borst (2008), Tess Dinterman (2010) and Kelly Voigt (2010).

McCarthy is committed to the Arizona State softball program.

While speed is a major weapon for McCarthy, Vikings coach Josh Teschner knows there is much more to her proficiency on the basepaths.

"What has made her an absolute terror has been her instincts and desire," Teschner said. "She is constantly making decisions to steal an extra base depending on what a pitcher has thrown or whether it is down-angle pitch into the dirt."

McCarthy also has a shot at breaking the school standard for runs scored.

She is 33 away with 20 games remaining in the regular season.

"Kalyn's aggressiveness and coupled with her complete understanding of the situations has made her the best base runner Fremd has ever had," Teschner said.

Slugging away:

With still nearly half of her sophomore season remaining, Barrington sophomore catcher Emma Kavanagh has moved into second place on the Fillies' all-time homer list.

She is up to 7 homers this spring and now has 24 total, placing her second on the Fillies' all-time list ahead of 1994 grad Ashley Berggren, who had 22.

Former Arkansas Razorback Loren Krzysko's 42 are the most in program history. The state mark belongs to Bailey Dowling of St. Joseph-Ogden, who connected for 65 in 2019 and now plays for Alabama.

"Emma continues to amaze each and every day," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "Her intense love for the game fuels her passion for greatness. She has big goals for her softball career and that motivates her to work on all the little things that produce gargantuan results."

Leaving his mark:

There have been only two softball coaches at Rolling Meadow for the past 44 years.

Current coach Tony Wolanski replaced longtime coach Greg Benes 19 years ago, putting him behind only 41-year veteran hall of fame Elk Grove coach Ken Grams for most years in the Mid-Suburban East.

Wolanski is just seven wins shy of reaching 245 wins, which would make him Rolling Meadows' winningest softball coach.

He has steered the team to three 19-win seasons, the most in program history.

"We have good kids in our program who are just trying to play better softball and keep battling every day," Wolanski said. "Some years are ups and some are downs. But I credit all the kids giving 100 percent effort all the time. "

As for this year's club, Wolanski says the girls are doing a great job competing.

"One thing we have to learn is how to focus on every pitch," he said. "But the kids are doing a great job. It takes time. We play in a really good conference. Sometimes when you're trying to show improvement, you are going to have bumps in the road. But our kids are staying in games. That's what they're good at, trying to compete."

Pave the Way:

Fremd's annual "Pave the Way" game will be against Palatine at 4:45 p.m. Friday.

The Vikings will collect hygiene items to benefit local families.

Coach Jost Teschner's players will honor powerful, influential, iconic and inspirational women. Each player selects one inspirational women who has "paved the way" for others and will wear that name on the back of their jersey.

The celebration will coincide with the attendance of travel, feeder and community league softball teams.

It is the varsity team's way of "paving the way" for the younger players not only for on-the-field activities but more importantly through academics, positive contributions to their school and local communities and their winning attitudes.

A first for a legend:

Despite more than 990 wins, the most by any active Illinois softball coach, Elk Grove coach Ken Grams experienced a first in his two victories to start this year's 2022 season.

For the first time in his 41 seasons, Grams watched back-to-back no-hitters from his pitching staff.

Erica Gore got the first one with a 13-0 shutout over Elk Grove on April 1 and Bela Rosario came back with another no-hitter in a 2-1 win over Fenton on April 5.

In the game against Fenton, Grams was facing his former student, Dave Mello, the Bison coach.

The Grenadiers are off to a 5-3 start through Tuesday, leaving Grams just seven wins shy of 1,000. He would be only the second coach in Illinois to achieve that milestone.

The winningest coach in Illinois softball history, Randy Wolken of St. Joseph-Ogden, retired following the 2018 season with 1,044 wins.