Fillies fever: Kazmier's a hit

Freshman Kelsey Kazmier, who has started every game for Barrington at shortstop, did not play the field Thursday due to illness the night before.

But Fillies coach Perry Peterson still had the freshman's bat in the lineup for the semifinals of the Class 4A Barrington softball sectional.

Even though she was still ailing Thursday, Kazmier rose to the occasion with a one-out single to left in a scoreless game in the bottom of the seventh against Lake Zurich.

Moments later, her pinch runner Mary Olandese stole second and went to third on an error, then raced home when Lindsey's Dulla hard groundball went off the pitcher's glove for an infield single to give the Fillies a 1-0 triumph over the No. 3-seeded Bears.

No. 2 Barrington (33-3) will meet No. 1 Fremd (30-4) for the championship at 11 a.m. Saturday.

"I was just drinking a lot of fluids and eating pretzels," said Kazmier, who batted No. 9 as the double player. "I had a high fever the night before but it went down during the day."

Olandese, a junior, was grateful of the opportunity to score the winning run.

"I wouldn't have been able to do anything if Kelsey didn't get the hit," Olandese said. "When the ball skipped to the outfield (on her steal), I knew I was going to third."

"That's a big credit on Mary's part for not hesitating," Peterson said. "She slid, got up and went. You'll hear a lot more about her as time goes on."

Olandese played for the junior varsity team this spring.

"A lot of those plays happen in junior varsity games," Peterson added. "So Mary knew what to do. She is a very valuable component to our team and she knows how to run the bases."

With Olandese on third, Colleen Shandley (3-for-4) reached first on a slow tapper toward the mound as Lake Zurich sophomore pitcher Megan Mattera looked the Olandese back to third.

Then Dulla hit the hard groundball back to the mound which enabled Olandese to score from third.

The Fillies had other key opportunities but Mattera was able to shut the door.

In the fourth, after one out, Jordan Wekony singled to left center and Nora Logue (2-for-3) doubled off the left field wall for runners on second and third.

But Mattera and catcher Coryn Schmit teamed up on a 1-2 fielder's choice and Mattera caught Kazmier's hard liner up the middle for the third out.

The Fillies had Shandley on third in the fifth with two outs but Mattera got the final out on a grounder to second.

"I'm proud of our kids," said Lake Zurich coach Becky Lewandowski. "We came out and played hard right to the bottom of the seventh. That's a tough way to lose but we knew it was going to come down to something like that. Both teams had opportunities to score but they did it first."

Barrington ace Kim Cygan (29-3) got out of her biggest jam in the fifth when Lake Zurich got singles from juniors Erin Sweeney and Kaitlin Beaver.

With runners on first and second with one out, sophomore Tabbetha Bohac put down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners one base before Cygan struck out the next batter.

The senior right-hander finished with a 3-hitter (Kyra Boyer had a double in the first inning) and 8 strikeouts for her 19th shutout.

Mattera struck out five and did not walk a batter.

"Megan stepped up and did a phenomenal job this season," said Lewandowski. "To hold them to one run was great. They're a great team. This was such a fun group we had and they worked so hard."

Schmit will be working on the softball diamond at the University of Illinois-Chicago next spring.

"We knew it was going to be a close game," Schmit said. "Megan was a great pitcher. From the first week of the season to now, I can't explain how much she has grown."

The Fillies' young players have also grown from the start of the season.

In fact, Kazmier's replacement Thursday at shortstop was sophomore Elizabeth Owen, who has steadily improved throughout the spring and flawlessly handled her substitute role.

"When the opportunity presented itself, Liz stepped in," Peterson said. "And we did not lose a beat."