Softball: Hersey’s bats, Patel’s pitching key win at Barrington
Hersey junior southpaw Ariya Patel had few words after Monday's Mid-Suburban League crossover softball game at Barrington's Fields of Dreams.
"I don't even have the words to explain what happened," she said. "It just happened."
What happened was Hersey defeated the Fillies at the Fields of Dreams for the first time in coach Molly Freeman’s 17 seasons as the Huskies head coach.
Patel (10-2) went all seven innings, tossing a 4-hitter with 8 strikeouts for an 8-5 triumph over the defending MSL West champs.
Payton Kee's 3-run homer over the right-center field fence in the first inning staked Patel to a 4-0 lead which she never relinquished in the biggest game of her two-year varsity career.
"I had great defense behind me," Patel said. "Grace (Grabowy) has some incredible plays at shortstop. We came out with our bats as well which was great.We had those homers from Payton and Grace (Grabowy, a solo blast in the second inning)."
Grabowy's third homer of the season made it 5-1 before Barrington got to within 5-4 in the third, thanks to catcher Emma Kavanagh's towering 3-run homer over the left center field fence that scored Mimi Cline (doubled in the first inning) and Gabi Phillis.
The homer was career No. 59 for Kavanagh, placing her in a tie for third in IHSA history. The record belongs to Bailey Dowling of St. Joseph-Ogden with 65.
Senior leadoff batter McKenna Menczywor's RBI single scored Lilly Cosgrove to extend Hersey's lead to 6-4 in the fourth.
Barrington pulled to within a run again in the bottom of the inning when Greta Mueller reached on an error and eventually scored on a wild pitch to make it 6-5.
But Patel retired 11 of the last 13 batters she faced. to close out the win for Hersey (12-3, 7-2), the leader in the MSL East.
Barrington sophomore pitcher Katie Taraschewsky (18-2) had one of the 5 hits for Barrington. Mueller had a double in the sixth and Kavanagh a single in the seventh.
“Congratulations to Hersey, they played a great game," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson, whose team is 18-2 and 7-2 in the MSL West. "We just have to keep improving as time marches forward."
Freeman loved how her team marched forward after a 10-7 loss to visiting Prospect last week.
"The kids have been amazing from top to bottom," said Freeman who added her previous biggest win at the Fields of Dreams came in 1997 when she was the center fielder for Fremd when the Vikings defeated Mundelein in the Barrington supersectional.
"They came back (from that Prospect game) with a win over Palatine (2-1). We said (after the Prospect loss) we could continue playing that way or we could join forces and come back from it. Every one of them has done their job, I'm so proud of them.
"They hit throughout the game which is enormous. It was huge to start out on fire in the first inning and then continue it. It wasn't just one batter. It was everyone hitting and everyone moving people over (Maddy Drury had a key sacrifice bunt in the fourth inning)."
Hersey produced 2 more runs in the sixth to give Patel a 3-run cushion. Senior Kate Kaiser led off with a single to right. Menczywor, Grabowy and Reese Izenstark all reached base to help Hersey take the 8-5 lead.
Patel now has 10 wins after serving primarily as a reliever as a sophomore.
"Our battery was just amazing," Freeman said of Patel and catcher Ellie Lindberg. "Ariya did some of her best work today. When she moves the ball and uses her pitches and her style, it's tremendous."
Grabowy, who recorded 5 assists and 2 putouts at short, went 2-for-4 and reached base four times, scoring 3 runs. Kee (3 RBI) and Gabby Felman (2 RBI) also went 2-for-4. Kee also made a terrific scoop at first base for a putout in the third inning, one of two innings when Patel retired the side in order.
"This win was enormous," Freeman said. "I don't even have any words. They just came out today and they owned it."