Rolling Meadows senior Jon Carlson has been waiting for this chance for a year.
Fremd has been waiting for this chance for eight years.
They'll get their shot to win a Mid-Suburban League baseball title when East champion Meadows (17-13) hosts West champion Fremd (19-9) at 11 a.m. Saturday.
It will be a battle of senior left-handers when the Kentucky-bound Carlson (6-1, 1.98 ERA, 107 strikeouts, 28 walks in 60 innings) tries to help Meadows add to its MSL record 10 titles when he faces Fremd's Matt Johnsen (6-1, 2.09, 44 strikeouts, 21 walks in 47 innings).
And Carlson wants to erase the memory of last year's 11-1 title-game loss in 5 innings to Schaumburg where 7 of the 10 runs he allowed were earned in 21/3 innings.
"Whenever you get a chance to win the championship game again and you didn't complete it the first time, you definitely want to complete it," Carlson said. "I won't be as nervous as I was last year, but Fremd has a really good lineup."
After a dominant stretch that included 52 strikeouts in 4 victories, Carlson has had a no-decision against Prospect and his first loss Monday against Buffalo Grove.
"My last 2 starts haven't been that good," Carlson said. "But other than those 2, I'm pleased with the performances I've had."
Johnsen had a rocky start after pitching primarily in relief last season. An impressive 5-3 win over West runner-up Conant and Walt Wijas on April 22 was part of a strong turnaround.
"After his first 2 starts I was ready to move him to the bullpen, but since then he's had a great season," said Fremd coach Chris Piggott. "Early on he was getting the ball up and his control wasn't there. He went back to getting ahead of the hitters and keeping the ball down."
Carlson and Johnsen didn't pitch when Fremd outhit Meadows 11-10 to win their MSL crossover 4-2 on May 7.
The Vikings won the last of their three outright titles - they shared the MSL in 1984 - in 2001.
"We're hungry for it," said Fremd shortstop and speedy leadoff man Todd Dunham, who has 20 stolen bases.
Bradley-bound center fielder Mike Tauchman (.550, 7 homers, 37 RBI, 10 SB), junior first baseman Clint Terry (.381, 2 HR, 20 RBI), catcher Tyler Gregory (.350, 11 doubles), second baseman Eric Paulson (.380, 17 RBI) and junior Zenon Kolakowski (.330, 20 RBI) anchor the lineup.
Getting outfielder Ryan Polak, who had 2 hits in the win over Meadows, back from a broken wrist has been a boost. Third baseman Joey DePaolis and outfielder Chris Doloughty have had clutch hits this week, and Terry (5-2, 2.98, 58 Ks in 421/3 innings), Jake Llanas (2-1, 2.37) and closer Mike Schoolcraft (2-2, 2 saves) should be available to pitch.
"When we play defense we're pretty good," Piggott said. "When we kick the ball around we struggle. That's the way it's been all year."
Carlson (.460, 4 HR, 12 2B, 31 RBI) anchors a lineup that has provided production at every spot. Senior Dan Wenzel (.352) has moved into the leadoff spot ahead of second baseman Dan Lauria (.319, 18 RBI) and shortstop Teddy Metzger (.354, 22 RBI).
Outfielders Ben Kamperschroer (.329, 24 RBI) and Owen Stiff (.316) and Dan Lynch (.299, 13 RBI), Will Trunk (.280, 12 RBI) and Pat Conlin (.260, 14 RBI) have all had big hits, and sophomore call-up Kyle Krzeski has solidified the defense at third base. Metzger (6-3) and Conlin (2-3, 2 saves) should also be ready to pitch if needed for coach Jim Lindeman.
"Coming into conference we were confident we could compete," Lynch said after clinching the East outright with a win over Prospect last week. "After we won the first five games, we knew had good pitching and could hit a little bit and we were confident we could compete for the title."