Softball: Schaumburg's a hit at Barrington

Schaumburg senior shortstop Christina Candotti knows the Field of Dreams in Barrington quite well.

"I love playing here," said the four-year starter and Butler recruit. "It's kind of sad it was my last time in an official high school game."

But she and the Saxons were happy with the results.

Candotti's D-I teammate Paige Alt (6-3) threw a 6-hitter and went 2-for-4 at the plate in a 4-2 Mid-Suburban West victory over Barrington on Thursday.

The Saxons improved to 9-4 and 5-1 in the West, while Barrington will head to Friday's downstate Washington High School tournament with a record of 13-3 and 4-2.

"The field is always so nice here," said Candotti (1-for-2), who had an RBI sacrifice fly and a double to right-center. "Even with the rain we had, the field is always dry and the outfield looks grass spectacular. The fences are high but you can still hit it out."

Candotti, who did belt two out at the FOD in her career, hit one off the fence for a double in the sixth inning.

It was one of Schaumburg's 7 hits in the game. Leadoff batter Michelle Birkholz went 2-for-4 while Micaela Encarnacion and Sarah Schwind also had base hits.

Saxons No. 2 hitter Kaiden Jackson reached base three times.

"We were hitting the ball on the ground," Jackson said. "That was a major part of our success to get runs home. And we relied on our communication to make plays."

Jackson and Alt reached on infield errors start the fourth inning.

Jackson came home on an RBI groundout by Cate Poplar and Candotti scored Alt from third with her sacrifice fly.

The Fillies escaped further damage when second baseman Kelly Katis made a nice backhand stop on Brittney Butt's grounder and threw to first baseman Haley Luczak for the final out of the inning.

Barrington tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning.

Jenna Fingerman reached on an error. After a perfect sacrifice bunt by Rachel Krzysko. Liz Sweeney singled to right and a run scored on an error on the play. Catcher Abbey Jacobsen then reached on another error bringing home the second run.

"There are a few things we have to work on defensively," Candotti said. "We will work on them in practice and get better. But overall we played well. This was a good team win."

"Our hitting was good," said Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu. "Even though the defense let up some runs, we answered back on the offensive side."

The Saxons scored the decisive final 2 runs in the top of the fifth.

Junior Natalie Napier, who made some key defensive plays at third base, began the inning with a walk.

Schwind delivered a one-out single and Napier eventually scored on Birkholz' RBI single to left-center.

After Jackson reached on an error, the Georgia Coastal bound Alt (2 strikeouts) produced an RBI single to center, scoring Schwind for the 4-2 cushion.

The Fillies got out of the inning with a 5-2-3 double play (Fingerman to Jacobsen to Luczak).

"We were pumped up for the game," said Fillies senior Rachel Macdonald, who singled to center in the sixth. "And we worked on our hitting in the batting cages.

"We thought it would be a different outcome but we'll come back and get the job done in Washington. We only got to plays two games down there last year (because of rain) so we are hoping for more this time."

Carly Kordich went 2-for-4 for the Fillies while Liz Sweeney and Luczak also had base hits for the Fillies.

Sophomore Catherine McMahon (10-3) started for the Fillies and Caroline Hoppe (3-0) also saw time on the mound.

"We'll get it going," Macdonald said. "But Schaumburg played great. You've got to give them credit."