Ciura’s homer leads Fremd

It is the most elemental battle in the game. Great pitcher against a superb hitter.

Score one for the offense.

First baseman Brittany Ciura blasted a 3-2 pitch off Palatine ace Danielle Boisvert over the centerfield wall for a decisive three-run home run that powered the visiting No. 6 Vikings over No. 20 Palatine 5-2 on Monday.

The two principals saw the pitch the same way.

“It was right down the middle, and I knew I had to get a hit,” Ciura said.

It was her third home run of the season.

“It was supposed to be a drop ball, but it didn’t drop,” Boisvert said.

She struck out two and allowed just seven hits. Her record fell to 9-2.

The play sparked a four-run fifth inning that pushed the Vikings’ lead to 5-0. The Vikings’ first two runs came off of Palatine errors. The victory ended the Pirates’ eight-game winning streak and marked their first loss in MSL West play.

Sophomore Ashlynne Schwantz struck out six and scattered 10 hits in running her record to 7-1.

“I knew I had to come out and really push myself to get back on the [winning track] after the Conant game [a 4-0 loss] last week,” Schwantz said. 

She is a strong counterpart to Fremd junior star Rachel Doering. The two pitchers are the biggest reason the Vikings are 14-1-1. 

Her father is the former Fremd star Jim Schwantz, a two-time Super Bowl winner with the Dallas Cowboys who’s the mayor of Palatine.

“He’s been involved and very encouraging ever since I started pitching in the third grade,” Schwantz said. “My strength is more of a movement pitcher, and fortunately I was able to do that today, move the ball around and keep them off balance.”

She also relied on some excellent defense to get out of early trouble. The Pirates (11-3, 3-1) lead off the first and second innings with doubles. In both cases, Schwantz stranded the runner at third. In the second inning, left fielder Caitlin Patenaude made a superb diving catch with one out that denied what appeared to be a certain Palatine run.

“If we’d had been able to punch one of those runs across, it might have completely changed the tenor of the game,” Palatine coach Jeff Manz. “During [the winning streak] we have won games with our defense and hitting. You just can’t give a team like Fremd the chances we did.

“They capitalized on our errors, and that was the difference in the game.”

Palatine staged a two-out rally in the fifth. Catcher Alyx Ballenger and right fielder Sam Salomone rapped out consecutive RBI-singles during a four-hit, two run response. 

Schwantz masterfully ended the fifth, sixth and seventh innings with strike outs to eliminate any Palatine rallies. 

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