Softball: Barrington handles Dundee-Crown
Barrington edged Dundee-Crown and pitcher Sydney Ruggles 2-0 to win the Class 4A Hampshire softball regional in 2017.
The Fillies had absolutely no interest in playing a close tightly-contested game in Saturday's 4A Jacobs regional finale in Algonquin.
There was little drama as top-seeded Barrington scored 6 runs in the first two innings and cruised past the fifth-seeded Chargers 10-0 in 6 innings.
Barrington (31-3) will play Harlem in a semifinal game of the Huntley sectional Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. D-C ends the 2018 campaign with a 19-11 slate.
"Today was our next game and we knew Sydney was a tough pitcher," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson of the Loyola signee. "She pitched a great game against us last year. It was a great group effort. We hit throughout the whole lineup one through nine."
The Fillies, now winners of 17 straight regional titles, pounded out 17 hits, 6 of the extra base variety against Ruggles.
Tori Meyer spearheaded the offensive onslaught for Barrington with a 3-for-4 effort that included a home run and 4 RBI.
"We practiced and prepared against the rise ball in practice a lot," said Meyer. "We knew Sydney was tough but we were aggressive at the plate from the beginning of the game until the end. It was good to score early and play with the lead. We are super excited to continue the legacy of Barrington softball."
Meyer received plenty of help from her teammates offensively.
Rachel Mori, who collected the game-ending RBI double, also stroked a solo homer and was 3-for-4 with 2 RBI with 2 runs scored.
Abbey Jacobson also delivered 3 hits with 2 runs scored and Kendall Peterson, Leyden Atlas and Sam Murphy each had 2 hits.
Cathy McMahon, the winning pitcher, and Meyer split the pitching duties for the winners.
McMahon, in 4 innings of work, blanked the Chargers on 4 hits. She struck out 2 with 1 walk while Meyer shutout D-C on 2 singles in 2 innings with 2 strikeouts and 0 walks.
"We have done a lot of shared pitching this season," said Peterson, whose team took third place in Class 4A last year. "Both Cathy and Tori are dependable and pitched well."
Dundee-Crown, with 6 singles, got 2 hits from Deanna Origer.
"One game will not define our season," said Dundee-Crown coach Tracy Beatty. "We went 12-4 in the (Fox Valley) conference and finished second behind a very good Huntley team. Barrington is a very good team that came out at the beginning of the game and swung the bats. I am extremely proud of this group. They took this program to the next level."
Ruggles ends her illustrious 4-year career as a Charger.
"It was hot out there and Barrington hit everything I threw," said Ruggles. "I really enjoyed playing at D-C for four years. It was a lot of fun."