New look suits Dolezal, Barrington

Barrington junior catcher Rachel Macdonald caught one of Keenen Dolezal's finest games of the season on Thursday at the Field of Dreams.

"Keenan was really on," Macdonald said after the Fillies senior right-hander blanked defending Mid-Suburban League softball champion Conant 8-0 with a 3-hitter. "She was keeping the ball low and did a really nice job hitting her spots."

Talk about hitting a spot.

Barrington batters found one particular location in the outfield and used it for 5 doubles which ignited the offense.

Right fielder Rachel Krzysko, Macdonald, second baseman Kelly Katis, shortstop Liz Sweeney and third baseman Jenna Fingerman all belted doubles to the right center field gap as Barrington improved to 15-4 and 5-1 in the Mid-Suburban West.

Conant (12-2, 5-1) lost for the first in time in the MSL West and is now tied with Barrington and Fremd for second place behind Schaumburg (6-0).

"The difference was that Barrington showed up to play and left everything they had on the field," said Conant coach Cathyann Smith. "We were one step behind mentally and physically so we have to move on. We'll have another chance."

It was the Fillies' first chance to play in new uniforms.

"We knew this was an important game so we pulled out the new uniforms to get the kids excited for this day," said Fillies coach Perry Peterson who is 3 wins away from 700 for his career.

"I loved the uniforms," said Dolezal, who raised her record to 14-4 with her eighth shutout. "We are very thankful for them."

The Fillies were also thankful for some handy glove work by first baseman Julie Magro.

She made a couple of nifty scoops and stretches to prevent errors.

"Julie is an elite defender at first base," Peterson said. "She helps our team as a good teammate and she is a great senior leader."

Magro also helped offensively in the second inning when she drew a walk with the bases loaded to give Barrington a 1-0 lead.

Macdonald (2-for-3) had led off the inning by chopping a single up the middle and base hits by Nicole Chapman and Haley Luczak (2-for-3) loaded the bases.

"We practice as a team, we play as a team and we win as a team," Macdonald said. "We don't give up after two outs and we don't want to stop after 1 run."

The Fillies showed that by adding 5 more in the fourth inning.

Magro and Carly Kordich drew one-out walks and both scored on Krzysko's double.

Liz Sweeney followed with a walk, and then Macdonald ripped a double for the 5-0 lead. Fingerman's single to left made it 6-0.

Fingerman was the game's only player with 3 hits as the junior went 3-for-4 with 2 RBI.

Katis had an RBI double in the fifth and Fingerman an RBI single in the sixth to cap the Fillies' scoring.

Seniors Alissa Wachal, Elisa Ambrose and Kim Zaucha had the 3 hits for Conant which received 8 strikeouts from junior pitcher Kim Neuman (6-2).

Dolezal escaped a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the second inning by getting a strikeout and a 1-2-3 double play. She finished with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.

"Coach (Peterson) told me to be good on both sides of the plate," said Dolezal, who also got a 6-4-3 game-ending double play. "My infield was awesome. Julia picked up everything at first base. I am happy for my whole team."