Sandburg knocks off Fremd in state title game

Vikings take second place with 2-1 loss.

Published By John Juettner on 6/12/2010

Seniors Kristine Werling (left) and Lena Brottman (right) pose with Fremd’s second-place Class 4A softball trophy.
Story and Photo By: Alex Mayster
      EAST PEORIA – Fremd’s failure to pitch around Sandburg slugger Lexi Bryant with first base open in the opening inning may have cost the Vikings a state championship.
      With one out and a runner on second, Bryant (who was hitting .504 with 15 home runs entering the tournament) belted an RBI-double to the center field fence to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.
      “She threw the pitch that I called three inches, four inches off the plate,” Fremd coach Jim Weaver said. “And the girl hit it off the wall.”
Fremd (33-5) doesn’t practice the traditional baseball-style intentional walks, so starter Lena Brottman (30-3) was just trying to avoid giving Bryant a pitch to hit.
      “She’s a great hitter, you have to hit your spots,” Brottman said. “She hit the pitch I wanted her to hit and give her credit, she got a double.”
      The state championship was the first-ever for Eagles (40-2) softball program.
      “It’s been a long time coming for this school,” Sandburg coach Jim Fabianski said. “It means a lot to this program, it means a lot to people in the community. To get what you never have you have to do what you’ve never done.”
      The Eagles followed Bryant’s double with an RBI-single from Morgan Biel to take a 2-0 lead.
      From there the pitchers began to take over.
      Brottman would surrender just three more hits all game and Sandburg pitcher Brit Gardner (19-2) did not relinquish a run until the final inning.
      Down 2-0 with one out in the top of the seventh, right fielder Alexa Cinquegrant hit a solo home run to cut the lead to 2-1.
      The next hitter, Megan Hubbard, was hit by a pitch before Tess Dinterman struck out to record the inning’s second out.
      The No. 9 hitter, Caitlin Patenaude, reached base to keep the Vikings hopes alive, but Kristine Werling recorded the final out to end Fremd’s season.
      “We were one play short of where we talked about wanting to end up but to me it was a one hundred percent successful season,” Weaver said. “If you get down to your last at-bat with a chance to win the state championship, I don’t know what else you can ask for. I think any team in the state would take that.”
      Brottman, who finishes her career as the all-time Mid Suburban League wins leader (83), said she couldn’t have asked for anything more from the season.
      “This was one of our most successful seasons ever,” she said. “To come back and bet last year’s record, it was a great season.”