Barrington holds off Palatine
Barrington’s softball team got the jump on visiting Palatine on Friday.
The Fillies led 5-0 after sophomore Loren Krzysko belted her eighth home run of the season, a 3-run shot over the centerfield fence with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But the Pirates had their fans jumping up and down in the next two innings.
Palatine scored twice in the sixth.
The Pirates added 2 more runs in the seventh and still had a runner on first base with two outs before third baseman Krzysko caught a pop foul to end the rally in the 5-4 Fillies’ victory.
“It got nerve-wracking,” said Krzysko, who starred at the plate with a 3-for-3 performance that also included 2 doubles and 4 RBI. “Palatine is a tough team. They’re really good on defense.
“But we came through. I knew Kiley (Dolezal, Fillies senior ace) would step up. It’s going to be another good game with them (today).”
Barrington (19-9, 7-3) visits Palatine (17-5, 6-3) at 10 a.m. today in a makeup game from earlier this season.
“We were right there,” said Pirates coach Jeff Manz, whose team outhit the Fillies 14-9. “The bottom line is that we had chances in the early innings but didn’t execute.
“We got in a big hole but the kids did a great job digging out of it. We will be better for it. The kids did a great job fighting back.”
Senior Colleen Shandley started the bottom of the first with a single to left and was sacrificed to second by Kelsey Kazmier. Krzysko then delivered an RBI double off the right field wall.
Two batters later, Liz Owen doubled over the left fielder’s head to score Krzysko for a 2-0 lead.
“We really needed this win,” said Owen, who was 2-for-3 and robbed of a third hit on a great diving stab by shortstop Katie Mnichowicz (2-for-4), who then threw to first baseman Lauren Logan for a double play that ended Barrington’s fifth inning.
After Krzysko’s blast made it 5-0, Palatine came back for 2 runs in the top of the sixth.
Logan started the rally with a single to center. Tori Walzak, pinch-hitter Megan Hedstrom (RBI) and Mnichowicz (RBI) also singled in the inning.
The Pirates still had the bases loaded with one out when the Fillies came up with a 1-2-3 double play (Dolezal to Kristin Kuhn to Kiersten Tinkoff).
“It was a pretty close game but I had confidence we could pull it out, said Kuhn, whose flyball to center in the fourth inning allowed Owen to slide safely into third base despite a great throw by center fielder Joanne Jablonski.
After Pirates pitcher Dani Boisvert (14-4) faced four batters in the bottom of the sixth (pinch-hitter Jazlynn Skor singled), the Pirates’ offense got rolling again in the top of the seventh after two were out.
That’s when Logan (3-for-4) doubled to left and then stopped at third base on Katie Scovic’s single to left.
Walzak (3-for-4) then delivered a big 2-run single to center before Dolezal (15-6) got the final out.