Lake Zurich rallies past Fremd

Updated: June 4, 2011 9:56PM

Most softball teams would panic trailing by two runs with two batters retired in the seventh inning. But Lake Zurich took a different approach on Saturday.

The Bears simply kept clawing — and walked off the field with a 4-3 victory over Fremd in the Class 4A Warren Sectional final.

“Maybe nobody else in the place believed we could do it,” said Lake Zurich coach Michaela Towne, whose 24-7 club will face New Trier at 4:30 p.m. Monday in the Glenbrook South Supersectional. “I said to them, ‘I believe you can do it.’”

Winning pitcher Megan Mattera had a similar vibe heading into the seventh.

“We knew we could do it, because we came back in the conference championship,” said Mattera, referring to a North Suburban title game win over Antioch. “We kept hacking at the plate. We just wanted to keep the ball in play.”

Ashley Pettinger opened the seventh with an infield hit. Two outs later, Carlee Parsons reached on an error by the second baseman that allowed Pettinger to score to cut the deficit to 3-2. Maria Schroeder then lofted a fly ball to right field — and promptly circled the bases when the ball was dropped and later thrown into left field.

“I thought (the right fielder) was going to catch it,” Schroeder said, “but I kept on running. I thought my ankle was going to give out (she has a sprained ankle). But it was too good a moment to feel pain.”

Mattera (20-7) finished off the victory by recording a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh. She ended the game with back-to-back strikeouts.

“I was really pumped,” said Mattera, who allowed five hits while striking out nine. “We just wanted to get the first out and get one out at a time.”

Fremd (28-6-1) jumped out to a 3-0 lead when Caitlin Patenaude ripped a three-run double to right in the first inning. But the Vikings failed to score again.

“We missed some chances early that hurt us,” said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. “You can’t let anyone hang around, because these teams are too good.”

The loss spoiled a solid pitching performance by Rachel Doering. The Viking junior allowed seven hits and only gave up one earned run.

“Rachel executed just about everything we called,” Weaver said. “She did what she needed to do to win the game.”

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