Softball notes: Dolecki, Schaumburg mashing early; St. Viator’s pitching coming on strong

The Dolecki family has another member headed to play Division I softball.

Junior center fielder Taylor Dolecki, an All-Area selection last spring, has committed to Arizona State University.

Playing for the Sun Devils has been a long time goal for Taylor, whose sister Madison recently slugged her first career homer for Belmont University.

"Ever since I met Taylor, she has always wanted to play softball at Arizona State University," said Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu, a former D-I player herself at Northern Illinois after graduating as a standout pitcher for Fremd. "It has been fun to watch Taylor excel and become such an integral part of our lineup in center field."

Taylor has also done her part to contribute to Saxons' offense over the last couple of seasons. She already has 2 home runs this spring.

"As her time continues at Schaumburg, we are excited to continue to watch her develop as a player and look forward to seeing what she can do at ASU when she gets there," Abreu added.

Taylor said she chose Arizona State University primarily because of the coaching staff.

"Coach Megan Bartlett has high energy, is extremely knowledgeable and really cares about her players," Taylor said. "I’m excited for the opportunity to compete against the best competition in the country."

Madison Mueller (2), Jordan Murtagh (1) and Victoria Villegas (1) have also hit home runs for the Saxons this spring who began the week at 3-3.

"We had great games against Jacobs and Maine West last week," Abreu said.

The Saxons edged Jacobs 7-6 and dropped a 9-inning decision with Maine West 6-2.

"Alexa Evans pitched a great game against Maine West and we put the ball in play well," Abreu said. "The goal is to play consistent solid defense and continue to put the ball in play well as we go into this first week of conference play."

Lions roaring: St. Viator went 4-1 in the third and fourth weeks of the season behind the pitching of Carley Heiden and Ellen Denten. "Our freshmen are getting stronger every game and we are starting to put it all together," said Lion coach John Scotillo. "Playing games in Tennessee over break really helped us. During that stretch, we hit .376, proving that hitting is contagious."

Victorious Vikings: Fremd entered the week with a 5-0 record with senior Hailey Lucas, two-time ICA All-State winner, allowing just one earned run in 28 innings of work. She was 4-0 with a 0.50 ERA.

Junior pitcher Molly Kanupke, being the only other pitcher of record, has a 6-5 complete-game win against Wheaton North.

The Vikings have played one of the hardest schedules in the state, according to MaxPreps, and going into conference play, the challenges keep coming.

The Vikings head to the Rosemont Rumble this weekend to take on Downers Grove North and powerhouse Marist on Saturday night.

1,047 and counting: Ken Grams, the state's all-time winningest softball coach, now has 1,047 wins after a 12-2 win over Palatine on Monday.

In the game prior, the Grens won 3-2 in 8 innings against Niles North.

Niles North scored a run in the top of the eighth to go up 2-1.

In the bottom of the eighth, winning pitcher Bella Andrade (8 innings, 5 hits, nine strikeouts) was hit by a pitch, Katie Wirtz tripled to tie the game at 2-2 before Katie’s freshman sister Jamie singled up the middle, driving in her junior sister with the walk-off game-winner.

"We've really lost quite a few games to the weather and have been unable to reschedule them," Grams said.

Strong start: Prospect (12-1) has had a solid start to its season.

"The coaches are really enjoying the season and love how the girls play together as a team," said Prospect coach Krystina Mackowiack. "We have been down a few games and came back to win late in the game, proving that we are never out of any game. We have had a combination of great pitching and timely hitting. We are looking forward to putting all our hard work to the test with conference games starting this week."

Four straight for Cats: Wheeling is enjoying its longest winning streak of the season with wins against Waukegan, Lake Forest, Elgin and Hoffman Estates after starting the season with two losses.

Senior Ava Shrake and freshman Sierra Kuhlman have the wins for coach Mike Caringella while senior Mia Smith has 2 saves.

Senior Katie Moser, juniors Alaina Costello and Viansa Polina and freshman Caitlyn Fitzgerald are leading the offense. "Caitlyn has been solid behind the plate," Caringella added.

Barrington rolling: The Fillies are 10-1 through their first 11 games with senior Mimi Cline batting .419 (13- for 31) with 12 runs, 15 RBI, 5 doubles (team leader), 1 triple, 1 homer and a .563 batting average with runners in scoring position (9-16) in her first 10 games.

"Mimi has been very consistent this spring," said Fillies coach Perry Peterson. "Her center field play so far has been excellent."

Bartys bombs: Conant's Holly Bartys belted 2 home runs against Glenbrook South, one of them a grand slam while Dani Gemmell threw a 1-hit shutout.

Ava Falcone has on-base percentage of more than .700 and has scored 13 runs in the Cougars' first 5 games of the season.

Pirates click on offense: First-year Pirates coach Janalee Lyke liked what she saw in her team's offense the first four weeks.

"We have continued to do a great job, scoring at least 5 runs in every game we have played so far," said the former Schaumburg High standout whose team started out the week at 2-4-1. "We had some tough games last week but that allowed us to work on several different aspects of our game."

Even after 4: After the first four weeks of the season, coach Emmy Pasier's Maine South Hawks are standing at 2-2 with wins over Buffalo Grove and Vernon Hills. "We are looking forward to dry weather and conference games starting up this week," Pasier said.