Softball: Taraschewsky pitches, hits Barrington past Buffalo Grove
Katie Taraschewsky threw the first pitch of Friday's Mid-Suburban League crossover softball game and hit the last pitch.
The Barrington sophomore tossed a 4-hitter and wrapped it up with her bat, delivering a walk-off 2-run single to right center that put the 10-rule into effect in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Freshman Harlow Engel and junior Shannon Kenney crossed the plate with the runs that gave the Fillies an 11-1 win over visiting Buffalo Grove at the Fields of Dreams.
"Katie does a nice job in the batter's box," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson, who notched career win No. 955 against 209 losses. "She swings the bat well. She is a well-rounded player. She can do a lot of things, she fields her position nicely and she pitches the ball with precision."
Barrington outhit the Bison, 12-4, led by Reese Cullen (2-for-4), Engel (2-for-3, RBI, walk) and Shannon Kenney (2-for-3, 4 RBI, walk), who highlighted the offense by walloping her fourth homer of the season, a 3-run shot over the right-center field fence in the bottom of the third inning.
Kenney's blast gave the Fillies' 20 homers for the season.
Taraschewsky's bat and arm helped the Fillies get to 12-0 and 3-0 in the MSL West.
"She's been fantastic." said the Fillies' Arizona pledge catcher Emma Kavanagh, who was on base when Kenney belted her homer. "Her fastball looked great. Her change-up looked great. Her warmups were really good. We were really focused on a good pregame with her. She finally had it. Everything clicked really well. And she has been amazing in the batter's box, too. I know she has been putting in a lot of work and we are really proud of her."
Taraschewsky is proud of her team.
"It just feels good to know we are a strong team and a good hitting team," said the undefeated right-hander. "I felt under control out there. Getting ahead in the counts really helped."
Barrington took the lead for good with a pair of unearned runs in the second inning.
Kenney led off with a walk and Taraschewsky reached on an infield error for runners on second and third with no outs.
Kenney slid safely at the plate when Gabi Philis reached on a fielder's choice which also allowed pinch runner Lexi Thomas to score.
The lead ballooned to 6-0 in the third when the Fillies scored 4 times on 5 hits, including Kenney's big blast on a 2-2 pitch with one out. Mimi Cline, Cullen, Greta Mueller and Nina Brebach also had hits. Engel and Phillis drew walks in the inning which ended on Cline's deep fly to center caught by Kayla O'Malley.
Engel's RBI single to center scored Cullen to make it 7-0 in the fourth inning.
After one out in the bottom of the fifth, Mueller reached on an error and Phillis singled to right.
With two outs, they both came home when Cline made it to first base on an infield error for a 9-0 cushion.
BG (2-5, 0-3) scored its only run in the top of the sixth when McKenna Wagner lined a one-out triple to right field and scored on Erin Ryan's two-out infield single.
Ryan went 2-for-3 with a double and missed a 3-for-3 performance thanks to Phillis' catch in right field. The senior raced quickly to her left and made a great snow cone grab to rob Ryan.
"Erin is hitting the ball hard," said BG second-year coach Martha Kelly whose pitcher Sammie Kosnoff (2-5) went all six innings. "Erin is doing a good job stepping up as a leader behind the plate."
Sammi Wolverton and Wagner had the other hits for the Bison.
“There were just one or two mistakes here and there that we made and you can't let that happen against a good team like Barrington,” Kelly said. “They hit the ball well and defend really well.
"We stuck with them and went deep into the game. I'm very proud of the girls for that. This was an opportunity to learn for us and grow as a group. We have only two seniors in the lineup and everyone is an underclassman."