Tough combination keeps Barrington perfect

Barrington's softball team hit Jacobs with a little punch, then a big punch Tuesday at the Fields of Dreams.

An RBI bunt single by Lindsey Dulla and a home run by Devinne Wapotish were all the Fillies needed for a 2-0 victory over the visiting Golden Eagles, who were playing their season opener.

Kim Cygan improved her record and the Fillies to 6-0 by tossing a 5-hitter with 6 strikeouts and 2 walks.

"I thought Kim stepped up when we needed her most," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "She got strikeouts to end the fifth and seventh innings when they had runners in scoring position and that's a sign of a mentally tough pitcher."

Wapotish was mentally tough at the plate in the third inning.

After taking the first pitch in the dirt, the senior catcher teed off on the next offering from Becky Wilson for her second homer of the spring over the left-center field fence.

"I'll hit the first perfect pitch I see," she said. "Because you might never see one like that again."

Cygan never let Jacobs see a runner get past third base.

The junior ace passed credit on to her defense and offense.

"Devinne was awesome with her home run, and Lindsey's slap bunt was awesome, too," said Cygan, who scattered 5 hits in 5 different innings.

Julie Escareno (2-for-4) and Wilson (2-for-3) each had 2 hits for the visitors while Lauren Arceneaux was 1-for-2 with a walk.

"We had our opportunities," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "We just couldn't break through. We played well enough to be in the game with them to the end."

Wilson, who was 17-4 last spring, tossed a 5-hitter with 1 walk and no strikeouts.

"Our pitching and hitting looked good," Bauer added. "We've just got to take better advantage of our opportunities. We gave up 1 unearned run. Offensively, we should have been able to pick it up but they (Barrington) did a good job to make their lead stick.

"I was pleased with our defense. Lauren Arceneaux made some nice plays at short."

Barrington's unearned run came in the second. After two outs, Kristin Kuhn reached on an error. Kiersten Tinkoff then doubled to left center, setting up Dulla's bunt which got Kuhn home.

"I was just looking to put the ball on the ground," Dulla said. "That's what coach tells me do to and I just try my best to do it."

"Lindsey is unbelievable right now," Wapotish said. "She is doing so well. I'm so proud of her."

Lisa Shandley also had a hit for Barrington. Her slap single was followed by Wapotish's double to left field in the fifth inning.

However, Wilson got out of the inning with a fly out to centerfielder Sara Jacobson.

Cary-Grove 3, Hersey 2:ΠKristen Bauer will certainly pitch better as the season goes on.

But, the Cary-Grove senior's gutsy effort was good enough to produce a season-opening win over Hersey in a non-conference game in Cary on Tuesday afternoon.

"We were just happy to get on a field and play a game," Bauer said. "We were really ready to play and are very happy to win our first game.

"My fastball, drop and change up was working well. It was a little cold out there. I would prefer it to be a little warmer. It was a good way to start the season."

Bauer threw a complete-game 7-hitter. The Trojan senior struck out four without allowing a walk.

The visiting Huskies (0-4) scored first in the second inning on a RBI double by Taylor Reeves.

Nursing a 3-1 lead heading into the seventh, Bauer and the Trojans had to stave off a Hersey rally.

The Huskies cut the deficit to 3-2 on an RBI double by Aleene Morgenthaler.

Morgenthaler moved to third on a single by Sarah Laughlin to put runners on first and third with 1 out.

But, Bauer got tough and retired the next two batters on infield pop-ups.

Danielle Gore paced Hersey with a 3-for-3 performance, a double and a run scored.

Mallory Donoghue, who shut out Cary-Grove for 5 of 6 innings, allowed 3 runs on 4 hits. She struck out 1 with 1 walk and was hindered by 4 errors.

"We had our chances but we had some very costly baserunning mistakes," said Hersey coach Molly Freeman. "We just need to clean some things up and keep improving. We need to be consistent and play 7 innings."