Elk Grove headed to the state semifinals

2-0 win over Cary-Grove sends the Grens into a meeting with Fremd.

Published By John Juettner on 6/10/2010

Story and Photo By: Alex Mayster
      All signs pointed towards a stalemate on Wednesday night as Elk Grove and Cary-Grove battled to a scoreless tie through the first five innings of the Class 4A Judson University supersectional in Elgin.
      It wasn’t until the sixth inning that the Grenadiers capitalized on a three-error inning from the Trojans to take a 2-0 lead that they would not relinquish.
      Dani Goranson replaced Elk Grove starter Stephanie Mayday in the bottom of the inning and made quick work of Cary-Grove, maintaining the shutout and sending the Grenadiers down state for the first time since 1982.
      “This is wonderful,” Elk Grove coach Ken Grams said. “This group, I knew going in we’d be a pretty good team. But they’ve exceeded what I thought. A lot of the young kids have really picked it up and showed they could play varsity softball.”
      The Grenadiers will have to prove it twice more if they want to come home with a state trophy. A familiar foe stands will stand in their way on Friday.
      Elk Grove will meet Fremd in the state semifinals at 4:30 p.m. in East Peoria, a team that the Grenadiers split their regular season series with. Elk Grove took the first game 4-2 before the Vikings topped the Grenadiers 1-0 in the MSL championship game.
      “We’re ready for some comeback,” Mayday said. “We really are excited for this game.”
      Grams said he expects a tough game in what will surely go down as another great battle.
      “They respect us, I’m sure. We respect all that they do,” he said. “ I’m looking forward to it. It’s two teams that have played well against each other for years.”
      Both starters were effective the entire game as neither Mayday (18-2) nor Trojans’ starter Lindsay Efflandt allowed a runner past third prior to the sixth inning.
      After Elk Grove’s Olivia Roback led off the sixth with a ground-ball out, the wheels began to fall off for Cary-Grove.
      Devan Parkison and Megan Keegan reached on consecutive fielding errors from the Trojans’ shortstop before a Krista Soesbe single loaded the bases.
      “She makes those plays most of the time,” Cary-Grove coach Tammy Olson said. “Bad luck, bad bounces. It’s the playoffs.”
      Parkison later came home on a wild pitch to score the game’s first run and Keegan eventually scored on a ball off the bat of Amanda Gattone that was mishandled by the pitcher.
      After recording the first out of the inning, Mayday was replaced by Goranson after allowing just her third hit of the game to the Trojans’ Eleni Polites. The substitution is one Grams has grown accustomed to.
      “I wish I had a logical reason but it’s a feeling, how they’ve been going and stuff like that,” he said.
      Goranson walked the first batter she faced, but quickly got the next two hitter to end the inning. She relinquished one single in the seventh before ending the game.
      The two Elk Grove pitchers combined to throw a four-hit shutout, striking out six.
      Efflandt threw a complete game, allowing two runs on five hits and struck out three.