Barrington's Dolezal commits to Loyola
Barrington softball pitcher Keenan Dolezal has become the 21st Filly to earn a Division I scholarship.
But her home field will be the closest of any of the past 20 standouts.
Dolezal has committed to Loyola University in Chicago.
"I liked how close the school is to home," said Dolezal, who is considering a major in early education or special education. "When I went there on an unofficial visit I liked everything about it and I thought it was a good fit."
Only a junior, she has been a wonderful fit in the Fillies' program.
She owns a career record of 33-3 after pitching the Fillies to third place in the Class 4A state finals last June in East Peoria.
With two years left, the diminutive but powerful right-hander has a chance to become the school's all-time winningest hurler.
That distinction currently belongs to Abby Reed, also a right-hander who notched her 80th and final win in 2004 before heading to Dartmouth.
"Keenan is a fierce competitor on the mound," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "She has learned to focus one pitch at a time and give her best effort each pitch no matter what the result from the prior batter."
Many of those prior batters have been outs.
Dolezal has 236 strikeouts in her 230⅔ innings at Barrington with 9 shutouts.
She has played in 49 varsity games in her two season s where the Fillies have gone 66-10.
As a sophomore, Dolezal was 29-2 with a 0.87 ERA and 239 strikeouts in 200⅔ innings.
She threw 8 shutouts and 2 no-hitters including a perfect game against Fremd to clinch the MSL West title last spring.
Opposing batters hit only .153 against Dolezal last season. Of her 3,260 pitches, 65.8 percent were thrown for strikes.
Keenan helped the Fillies earn a 30-win season for the 12th time in 13 seasons and 14th time under Peterson.
"My coaches at Barrington asked me if anything drew me away from going to Loyola," Dolezal said. "And I could not think of one thing. Mr. Peterson, Mr. (Mike) Freese and Mr. (Brian) Freese really helped me with finding Loyola.
"When I went there, I got to see the whole campus and really liked the atmosphere, coaches and everything."
Dolezal even went to the Rosemont Dome a few weeks ago and to watch the Ramblers play UIC.
"I'm really excited about committing," she said. "It's pretty much what I always wanted to do."
She began playing softball in the second grade, following in the footsteps of her older sisters and brothers.
"I started pitching when I was in the fifth grade when I was about 10 years old," she said. "Actually both my sisters (Casey and Kiley) pitched so my dad (Jim, who played three sports at Riverside-Brookfield) wanted me to give it a try. I tried and really enjoyed it."