Fremd softball defeats Lake Zurich to advance to the Rolling Meadows super sectional

Tess Dinterman's bases-loaded triple in the first inning helps propel the Vikings to victory.

Published By John Juettner on 6/05/2010

Fremd displays its sectional championship trophy.
Story and Photos By: Alex Mayster
      Rain may have delayed the start of Saturday’s Class 4A Buffalo Grove softball sectional championship game, but the thunder didn’t develop until the Vikings’ hitters came to the plate.
      Top-seeded Fremd took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first after six of the first seven Vikings’ hitters reached base, but the Vikings weren’t done.
      With the bases loaded and only one out in the inning, Tess Dinterman battled her way out of an 0-2 count to hit a bases clearing triple, giving Fremd a six run lead and carrying the Vikings past No. 6 Lake Zurich 9-3 for the sectional championship.
      “Tess just kept battling, never quit, and it paid off,” Fremd coach Jim Weaver said. “That’s a huge at-bat, that blew the game open.”
      The victory pits Fremd (31-4) against New Trier (31-7) for the Rolling Meadows super sectional crown and a ticket to the state tournament in East Peoria. The Vikings fell to New Trier 2-1 in their first loss of the 2010 campaign.
      The Vikings’ Caitlin Patenaude followed Dinterman with a ground ball to first base to knock the run in from third, and Fremd got its final run of the game in the second inning when Lauren Zaworski scored on a wild pitch.
      “We really jumped on them,” Dinterman said. “I was impressed with how everybody was hitting. It wasn’t just one or two people; it took everybody on the team.”
      Lake Zurich (24-12) starter Megan Mattera (20-11) would settle in from there. Mattera didn’t allow another hit the rest of the way.
      “I don’t know if it was jitters or what,” Lake Zurich coach Michaela Towne said. “After we got settled down we were great. Take out that first inning and it’s a whole different ball game.”
      Mattera completed the game, throwing six innings and allowing eight runs on six hits, while striking out four.
      The Bears’ ace helped her own cause in the fifth inning, putting Lake Zurich on the board for the first time with a two-run blast off Fremd starter Lena Brottman (29-2) to cut the Vikings’ advantage to 8-2. The home run was Mattera’s 14th of the season and the RBIs extended her own school record to 63.
      Erin Sweeney scored he Bears’ final run of the contest when a ground ball from Kaitlin Beaver deflected off the glove of Fremd shortstop Allie Gaeding and sailed into the outfield.
      Brottman regained her control in the sixth and sat the final three hitters down in order.
      “It was nice to see Lena dig deep when she had to,” Weaver said. “She threw the ball well against a good line-up.”http://ontheballmag.com/images/msl_uploads/Softballsectional512.jpg