Barrington savors another Elite treat

With 11 titles, Barrington's softball team is the elite of Mid-Suburban League.

The Fillies are also in the league's "elite" when it comes to state tournament play.

For the fifth consecutive time, the Fillies have landed a spot in the Elite Eight as they defeated Carmel 10-3 Saturday to win their own sectional at the Fields of Dreams.

Many MSL schools have never appeared even once in the softball Elite Eight, let alone nearly a half dozen times.

"It's exciting," said Barrington junior ace pitcher Kim Cygan, who played third base for last year's Class AA state runner-up squad.

This year, Barrington won a Class 4A sectional crown and advances to Monday's Elgin supersectional, hosted by Northern Illinois University.

The Fillies (29-6) will face Crystal Lake South (18-13) at 4:30 p.m. on Mary M. Bell Field.

Every Barrington starter had a hit in the game and all nine positions in the batting order scored a run.

Even though Saturday's score looks like a fairly comfortable win for Barrington, tense moments prevailed for the first three innings.

Corsairs' No 5 hitter Shea Crowley, a junior first baseman, belted towering home runs in the second (solo to left center) and third (2-run shot to center) to give Carmel a 3-2 lead.

But the six-time defending MSL champs scored twice in the bottom of third and 6 times in the fourth to give Cygan all the run support she needed to improve to 28-6.

"I knew I wasn't as sharp as I wanted to be early in the game," Cygan said. "I knew I had to buckle down."

That she did, retiring 13 of the final 14 batters she faced following Crowley's second homer.

"You've got to tip your cap to her (Crowley)," said Fillies coach Perry Peterson. "She really hit them both well.

"We changed some pitching strategy with Kim (after three innings). I think she adjusted very well."

Cygan (4 hits, 9 strikeouts) wiggled out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the second when she struck out the next two batters on seven pitches.

After falling behind 3-2, the Fillies took advantage of back-to-back hits by senior left fielder Lisa Shandley and senior catcher Devinne Wapotish to lead off the bottom of the third.

After they went to second and third on a grounder back to the mound, Cygan doubled them home to give herself the lead for good.

Carmel sophomore ace Rachel Tack (14-11) avoided further damage when she struck out the next batter and got the final out on a groundout to shortstop Kelly Cook.

But the Fillies gave Cygan her big cushion in the fourth when they batted around.

Kiersten Tinkoff started the big inning with a double to right and Linsdey Dulla reached on an error.

Wapotish's sacrifice fly to left brought in the first run with two outs.

The Fillies proceeded to score five more, getting RBI singles from Michal Jane Maropis, Jessica McGurn, Tinkoff and Dulla.

Kristin Kuhn also drew a bases-loaded walk.

"Everyone just kept getting hits," Dulla said. "And they were all coming with two outs. It was great offense."

Carmel also committed an error in the second inning when Barrington scored 2 runs, one on Dulla's RBI groundout and one on Colleen Shandley's base hit.

Peterson was proud of his four lefty hitters (Lisa Shandley, Colleen Shandley, Dulla and Tinkoff), who combined for 6 hits and 6 runs.

"Those kids have multi-dimensional skills and they're all terrific," Peterson said. "They all made significant contributions and look how many times they combined to reach base (11 of 15)."