Softball: Warren bows out on a banner day for Barrington
Barrington never worried. And why would the perennial state power, considering the Fillies were playing on their home softball field, which is decorated with nine state banners on the outfield fence?
Besides, the Fillies overcame an early deficit against host Huntley in the sectional final, so another hole Monday night wasn't anything to fret about.
No wonder Barrington sophomore Tori Meyer was unfazed when she relieved starting pitcher Catherine McMahon in a sixth-inning jam. Warren had a runner on second, with one run already in, and none out, chasing a deficit that was now just three runs.
"We were up by three and we have the best catcher in the world (Abbey Jacobsen)," Meyer said. "I just trusted her. I focused on the mitt and threw where I needed to throw. And I'm surrounded by the best infielders."
Meyer walked the first batter she faced, then struck out the next three.
She dodged another threat in the seventh - thanks to a Jacobsen pickoff to end the game - and Barrington won its own Class 4A supersectional 5-2.
Barrington (36-3), which will be adding a 10th banner to its outfield fence, will play Oak Park in Friday's 3 p.m. state semifinal at Eastside Centre in East Peoria.
Warren, which committed 5 errors and mustered only 3 hits, finished 28-8.
"We ran into a few bumps in the road, and we couldn't get the bats alive to counteract those," Blue Devils coach Jenna Charbonneau said. "We've had some hiccups on defense, and our bats have been bringing us through. Putting up only 2 runs against a good-hitting team like (Barrington) couldn't get the job done."
Barrington coach Perry Peterson was well aware of Warren's top-three hitters in its batting order. His daughter, Fillies sophomore third baseman Kendall, plays travel ball with senior Emily Hudgins and junior Claire Swedberg, both of whom are Penn State-bound. Warren pitcher Caitlyn Britton (Central Michigan commit) is a travel teammate of the Fillies' Meyer and Leyden Atlas.
"I have such a tremendous amount respect for Warren and those three Division-I kids at the top of the order," Perry Peterson said. "I'm not saying we don't have respect for the other kids, but (Hudgins, Swedberg and Britton) are elite-level kids. We had to work so hard and the best we could to make sure we kept them off base."
Hudgins, Swedberg and Britton went a combined 2-for-9.
Britton's solo blast to center field with two out in the bottom of the first was her 16th homer and 78th RBI of the season.
But Barrington finally broke through in the fourth, scoring 3 unearned runs off Britton. The key play came with two out and runners on second and third. Warren's infield couldn't complete what should have been a groundball out, allowing pinch runners Samantha Murphy and Caroline Hopp to both score. The third run of the inning scored on an errant throw home after Jenna Patino doubled into the right-center gap.
"All season when we were down we always came back," Britton said. "We believed in ourselves and kept playing harder and harder. We knew we could do it. It just didn't go our way tonight. We had an amazing season."
Barrington tacked on in the fifth. Kendall Peterson's RBI groundout made it 4-1, and two batters later Julia Kozar pulled a Britton pitch into right field for an RBI single.
Warren stranded runners at second and third in the fifth. After settling for the 1 run in the sixth, the Blue Devils got a one-out walk. But after a strikeout, Jacobsen picked off her second runner of the game, setting off a wild celebration for the Fillies on their infield.
"I've been wanting to come here since sixth grade," Meyer said. "We're finally going downstate."