Softball: Barrington maintains winning form at Prospect
One day after reaching the milestone of 800 wins at the Fields of Dreams, Barrington's Perry Peterson was back on the field where his dreams of being a softball coach first began.
With his Fillies playing at his alma mater Prospect on Saturday morning, Peterson watched his team strand four runners in the first two innings and remain scoreless after three innings with the Knights.
But senior Rachel Mori's RBI single to right in the fourth inning drove home junior Leyden Atlas to get the Fillies on the board, and they went on to claim an 8-1 triumph, the same score as Friday's win over Schaumburg.
Atlas and Mori, the No. 6 and 7 hitters in the batting order, combined to go 5-of-6 with 5 RBI and 4 runs while senior Catherine McMahon (9-1) tossed a 6-hitter with 12 strikeouts.
"Every game we expect our opponents to play their best game against us," said Mori, who plans to study nursing at Creighton. "We knew Prospect (16-6, 8-4) was leading the other side of the conference (MSL East), so we were trying to come out strong this game."
Mori's game-winning RBI helped set the tone for the Fillies, who improved to 22-2 and 12-0.
"I knew the game was scoreless and we don't have a lot of big home run sluggers," said Mori who went 2-for-2 with a 2-run double, 3 RBI, 2 runs and one sacrifice bunt. "So I was just trying to make contact and move the runners. I just let my hands guide the bat."
The Barrington bats produced 13 hits including a 3-for-5 performance from third baseman Kendall Peterson, who tripled to right and had an RBI single.
Atlas went 3-for-4 with an RBI that sparked a 4-run top of the fifth inning.
"We just stayed calm," said the Rutgers-bound senior, who played in her first game two weeks ago after missing the first half of the season with a knee injury. "Everyone just wanted to rack up some hits today."
Other multiple hitters for the Fillies were Tori Meyer (2-for-4) and Katherine Stagnito (2-for-2, 2 walks) while Abbey Jacobsen had a hit and a walk.
"Prospect played really well," said Perry Peterson, who served as a softball assistant coach at Prospect in the mid-1980s. "They gave us all we could handle."
The Knights were led on offense by shortstop Lauren Caldrone (2-for-4, RBI double in the seventh inning) and center fielder Alex Kanter (2-for-3).
First baseman Colleen Palczysnki and right fielder Kaitlyn Pancini had Prospect's other hits. Sophomore pitcher Claire Doherty (9-4) struck out seven.
"Our offense was a little flat today," sad Prospect coach Krystina Leazer. "Barrington is a good team. They got the hits and we didn't.
"You've got to give credit to their pitcher. Not too many teams are able to shut down our hitters like she did. Now we've got to go back to work next week."