Softball: Lucas fans 19, hits grand slam in Fremd’s win over Prospect

After a dominating performance in which she struck out 19 batters and belted a grand slam while reaching base three times, Fremd senior Hailey Lucas called the Vikings' 7-0 win on Wednesday in Palatine a great team win.

That's the sign of a great team player who respects all of her teammates.

And respect was all Prospect coach Krystina Mackowiack had for the hard-throwing right-hander who is committed to Southern Illinois University.

"Hailey is phenomenal," Mackowiack said. "We knew that coming in and she did her job. She shut us down."

Going up against a Prospect team that entered the Mid-Suburban League crossover at 11-1, Lucas was masterful, taking a perfect game into the seventh inning.

Knights catcher Gianna Catanzano broke it up by drawing a leadoff walk and one out later senior Gina Falls hustled out an infield hit to break up the no-hit bid.

But Lucas struck out the next two batters to wrap up her sixth win in six starts.

"Perfect games are fun and there's the moments behind it that's exciting but what we're hoping for is to get better game by game and inning by inning," said Fremd coach Josh Teschner whose team is 7-0 and 2-0 in the MSL West. "And for Hailey to keep us in every single game and that's what she did against a really good 11-win Prospect team."

Fremd got off to a really good start with two runs in the bottom of the first.

Senior Claire Kanaupke started the big two-out rally with a single down the right field line. Amanda Poniecki followed with a line drive single into right field off the leaping second baseman's glove. Avery Sheirdian then reached on an infield error which brought home two runs.

The Vikes added another run in the third inning when Poniecki's two-out single to center scored Taylpor Pineto, who led off the inning with a walk.

“The offense coming through with those runs early was absolutely crucial because it took a lot of pressure off me," said Lucas who was coming off a 6-0 no-hitter against Buffalo Grove on Monday. "I was very proud of everyone."

Then Lucas provided four more runs for herself in the third with her third career grand slam over the left-center fence with two outs. Avery Sadorf (single), Emily Usalis (single) and Alexis Pazur (walk) all reached base to start the inning.

Lucas' blast was her 21st career homer, tying her for second on Fremd's all-time list with Megan Hubbard. Jess Mazur, now serving as a Fremd assistant, is the all-time leader with 34.

Her 19 strikeouts gave her 538 for her three-year varsity career, third behind Lena Brottman (1,018) and Stacy Gillette (610) in program history.

"She is a phenomenal player,“ Teschner said. "She has proved it year after year for us and the great thing is that we can count on her not only every time she steps in the circle but also at the plate which just makes her that much more of a dynamic player for us."

When Falls broke up the no-hitter, it ended 14 straight innings that Lucas did not give up a hit.

The only Knights who hit fair balls off Lucas on Wednesday were Catanzano (groundout to Kanupke at first base to lead off the game and a 1-3 groundout in the third) and Falls' single in the seventh.

""My pitches were moving and Emily (Usalis, a sophomore) did a great job framing everything," said Lucas, who recorded 20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game against Hersey last year. "She's awesome."

Lucas (2-for-4, 4 RBI), Poniecki (2-for-4) and Sadorf (2-for-3) were multiple hitters for Fremd.

"There's no question Prospect (11-2, 1-1) is a good team,“ Teshcner said. "We're very happy to come out with another conference win. Obviously it's early in the season and at this point we're just looking to get better in every game."

Mackowiack went with sophomore pitcher Megan Maresco in the first inning and junior Lina Calvacca the final five.

"She's (Lucas) a good pitcher and there was nothing we could do about that but we told the girls we are proud of the way they didn't give up," Mackowiack said. "We came back with energy at the end. We didn't really make anything happen but we got some people on base so that shows we weren't giving up."