Softball: Barrington hangs on despite Fremd's powerful plays
It was one of the most riveting moments of the Mid-Suburban League softball season when Lexi D'Ambrosio stepped into the batter's box in the sixth inning on Wednesday.
The Fremd senior catcher had already homered twice for the first time in her career, and the bases were loaded. There were two outs and the Vikings trailed 6-4.
It became even more dramatic as the Missouri-Kansas City recruit fouled off pitches to stay alive against another Division I recruit, Barrington standout pitcher Tori Meyer (DePaul).
D'Ambrosio then had everyone in suspense with a towering fly ball deep to center field which was played perfectly by Fillies center fielder Caroline Hoppe. She calmly made the grab to help the Fillies hold on for an 8-4 triumph in the Mid-Suburban crossover.
"Forty-five minutes earlier and that is a home run," said Fremd coach Josh Teschner, referring to the wind that had picked up blowing in from center field. "That's a grand slam and we have the lead."
Instead, Hoppe hauled it in and the Fillies (24-2, 14-0) remained 1 game ahead of Palatine (21-4, 13-1) in the West Division. The two teams play in Palatine at 5 p.m. Thursday.
"We practice that all the time so I was ready," Hoppe said. "I ran through all the plays in my head before it was hit. I had room behind me when it was hit right at me. I just needed to use to two hands."
Barrington used the arms of three pitchers - starter and winner Catherine McMahon (10-1), Hoppe and closer Meyer, who did not allow a run in the final 2⅓ innings with 3 strikeouts and 2 hits.
"This was a tremendous game today," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "It was a typical Fremd/Barrington game where you've got to battle all the way to the end. It was like the first time we played them (5-1 decision). Both were 4-run games but didn't feel like it. They felt nip and tuck all the way and that's a credit to what Josh is doing with his team. They're true competitors. They do a great job."
Barrington's offense was led by Leyden Atlas (3-for-4, RBI), Jenna Patino (2-for-4, 2 doubles), Abbey Jacobsen (2-for-4) and Meyer (2-for-3). Kendall Peterson, Katherine Stagnito and Jessica Bellis (double) each had hits.
D'Ambrosio's first homer gave Fremd a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning.
Her second homer (fifth of the season and 13th of her career) came on the heels of Jess Mazur's 30th career homer (12th of the season), a 2-run blast that easily cleared the left-center field fence and cut the deficit to 6-3 with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning. D'Ambrosio followed with her second solo shot to make it 6-4.
D'Ambrosio ended up 2-for-4 with 2 RBI while Mazur was 1-for-2 with 2 walks.
"It got really intense there," Patino said. "You've got to tip your caps to Mazur and D'Ambrosio. They are great hitters. We were able to come back and get a few more insurance runs there at the end which helped."
Hannah Ban, who made another superb diving catch to rob Bellis in the sixth inning, went 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot while Anna Freveletti, Gianna Arnieri, Bella Wojcik and Sophia Crescio each had a hit. Shortstop Grace Stevens had 3 assists to lead the infield for Fremd (15-9, 7-7).
"For all the love some of our players get, it is hard to deny Lexi is the heart and soul of what this team does from a leadership perspective, from an approach perspective and from a bleeding-green-and-gold perspective," Teschner said. "Lexi is that kid. She was out there ready to play.
"There are few kids who have taken the steps in four years that Lexi has. You saw it even in that final at-bat (fly out to center after foiling off pitches). She had a great approach to a state finalist pitcher and against a very good Barrington team."
Fremd senior pitcher Nikki Kehoe (7-4) struck out four.
"What we feel good about is that from the beginning of the week to the end we got better," Teschner said. "We learned a lot. One bad inning (4-run second for Fillies) but everyone is going to have a bad inning. The defense was spectacular.
"It's coming together. To be honest, the fact is by the time we get to the state playoffs we feel like with all the adversity and the schedule we've played, it's prepared us to do really well moving forward."
"You can't worry about certain things that happened in our games," said D'Ambrosio, who will play at Missouri-Kansas City next spring. "With the playoffs coming up soon, that's all that really matters now. We've been working really hard for the playoffs."