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Softball: Home run derby a hit for Lira, MSL senior stars

It was improvisation at its finest.

The folks who showed up for the 23rd edition of the Mid-Suburban League Senior All-Star Game were expecting a softball game at Barrington's Fields of Dreams.

Instead, due to a shortage of players, they were entertained by a home run derby, designed at the last minute by Barrington coach and All-Star Game director Perry Peterson and his staff.

All 10 girls on hand participated in the three-round event, which came down to a final four of Conant's Ally Lira (59), Rolling Meadows' Amanda Elkins (55), Buffalo Grove's Jasmine Avalos (54) and Barrington's Haley Luczak (45).

Lira's winning score of 59 points included 3 home runs from her 10 swings.

Not bad for someone who did not play the final seven weeks of the season due to two torn tendons in her left ankle suffered while sliding into second base against Rolling Meadows.

"I was doing work off my back foot only," said Lira, who hit nearly .400 from about 20 at-bats this spring. "I've been doing stationary work because I couldn't put any weight on my foot.

"I just caught the base weird (vs. Meadows, when she was also serving as the Cougars' catcher). It was unfortunate."

While it may have been unfortunate a regular game could not take place on Monday, Peterson and Co. still made it an entertaining evening.

"It was amazing," said Jasmine Avalos, a Milwaukee School of Engineering recruit who led BG with 4 homers this spring and took third in the derby. "I loved this experience. It was really fun to come out here and do a home run derby. I think it was better than what we were going to do."

Lira did it better than anyone, belting three balls over the fence in the championship round.

"It was fun and we made the most of what we had," said Lira, who will study exercise science and play softball at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wis. "And we definitely made some friends."

Lira was not the only Conant player in the spotlight on Monday.

Her former teammate Sara Neuman received the Nancy Frisk MVP award from hall of fame Daily Herald sports editor Bob Frisk, who retired in 2008 after 50 years with the newspaper.

The award is named in honor of Bob's wife, who died of cancer in 1992.

Neuman was the winning pitcher last year when she threw a 5-hitter for the MSL East due to a shortage of pitchers.

There was no shortage of power by Lira as she took her cuts off the underhand tosses from Peterson, who served as the pitcher about 25 feet from home plate and protected by a large screen in front of him.

Peterson's assistant coach Jon Sander superbly kept the fans informed of the point totals for each hit, with 10 being the highest (over the fence). It helped that he'd had already had some first-experience in running this kind of competition.

"We did it here for sectionals a few years back (when the IHSA was conducting its own hitting derby during the state finals)," said Sander, the public address announcer. "I helped keep track of where everything was being hit for that."

With Allison Schultz's assistance, Sander kept everyone advised on how many points each swing brought for every batter.

"It's the kids who made it fun," he said. "It was their show."

The show that went on thanks to some quick improvising.

"It was very fun," said Amanda Elkins, who will play softball at Carroll College (Waukesha, Wis.) along her twin sister Elizabeth.

"All the girls here were so nice and it was super fun to talk with everyone and to do something in a situation that is not as intense as a game."

Elkins, who will study nursing at Carroll (Elizabeth will major in psychology) walloped two over the fence in the final round.

"I was just trying to get the ball up in the air because reaching the outfield scores the most points," she said. "Mr. Peterson was telling us how they used to do this (home run derby) in the state tournament."

Speaking of the state tournament, that's where Luczak took her previous swings before Monday night.

She played first base for the Fillies, who took third place in the Class 4A tourney.

Luczak won't forget her final time, though, in a Fillies uniform at the Fields of Dreams.

In her final pitch, she sent it over the fence for her only homer in the competition.

"It was funny because my dad said to me afterward, 'Well, I guess you had a good last at-bat here,' " said Luczak, who will study accounting at Tennessee. "It felt good. Carly (Kordich, her Barrington classmate) and I were talking and we agreed how fun it was meeting all these girls and what a fun overall experience this was."

Also participating were Kordich (nursing at Winona State), Buffalo Grove's Alyssa DePhillips (business at Carroll University), Grace Gran (special education at Illinois State), Amy Pietruszynski (animal science at Wisconsin-Platteville) and Lydia Schultz (special education/elementary education at Wisconsin-Oshkosh).

"I've never been in a home run derby," Avalos said as she departed the Fields of Dreams for the final time as a high school athlete. "But I've watched them so many times on TV and they're so fun to watch."

Many of the fans would have agreed on Monday night.

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