Softball: Barrington blanks Hampshire to reach sectional championship game

When it comes to sectional openers, hall of fame Barrington coach Perry Peterson seems to always have his team ready for action.

The Filles got an active bat from Ohio State pledge Reese Cullen in the bottom of the fourth inning when she slugged a 2-2 pitch over the left field fence for a 2-0 lead that the Mid-Suburban League champs never relinquished.

Junior ace right-hander Katie Taraschewsky threw a 5-hitter and let Cullen's 14th homer propel her to a 5-0 decision over No. 2 seed Hampshire that lifted Peterson's record to 20-5 in sectional openers.

The top-seeded Fillies (32-3-1) move on to Friday's Class 4A Barrington sectional championship game against No. 2 seeded Huntley (25-12), a 6-1 winner over DeKalb (18-16) in Wednesday's first semifinal.

"That 2-0 lead definitely gave Katie some confidence," said Cullen, the Fillies senior receiver who threw out a runner trying to steal in the second inning. "We definitely needed more than 2 runs so we knew we had to keep working. But the first 2 runs definitely helped her as we kept going."

Cullen's blast came after sophomore Harlow Engel's one-out double to right center. That hit broke up a perfect three innings to start the game by Hampshire senior right-hander Lily Sippel who will play at Maryland Eastern Shore.

"I was just thinking through my process, waiting for a pitch to hit and keeping it simple," Cullen said of her game-winning RBI. "They (Hampshire) had great defense."

That defense included a nifty shoestring grab by senior right fielder Sophia Hagevold to take away a hit by Cullen in the first inning and a spectacular diving backhanded catch by sophomore centerfielder Julissa Akins to rob Liana Maggio for the final out of the third inning.

"We were hitting the ball hard and they were making terrific plays," Peterson said. "We just had to keep going until we finally broke through. To the credit of our girls, that happened, but kudos to Hampshire. They were sharp tonight.

"When you're in playoff softball, you've got to be really focused. Any one play can change the outcome."

And Cullen's blast certainly did, and the Fillies capped it off with some big insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth.

The 3-run inning began with back-to-back doubles from senior leadoff batter Mimi Cline and Engel (2-for-3), her second of the game.

An intentional walk to Cullen loaded the bases before Taraschewsky's sacrifice fly to right made it 3-0. Shannon Kenney followed with a line drive single to center to make it 4-0.

Izzy Zwolinski, the courtesy runner for Cullen, raced home on an error as the Fillies attempted a double steal to increase the lead to the final margin of 5-0 .

"I feel very good," Cullen said. 'I really like this team dynamic. Everyone works really well together and the energy was great.“

The Whip-Purs drew energy from Sippel and her defense's big start.

"Lilly gave us the best that we could expect out of the first three innings," said Hampshire coach Jeremy Bauer, who had his team playing in its second sectional in his four seasons. "We made a few plays. I was really happy with our pitching and defensive performance.

"But Barrington is not going to go away quietly. They've got hitters up and down their lineup so we expected them to challenge us. We had the same amount of hits as them (5) but they just hit theirs with runners on base and one went over the fence."

Meanwhile, Taraschewsky (28-3-1) recorded her 13th shutout and 23rd of her career in which she stands at 56-9-1.

"Katie did a nice job," added the 34-year veteran Peterson, who saw all nine of his starters record at least one assist or putout. "She did what she had to do to help her team win."

Bauer hopes to keep winning in the future.

"We were a senior-heavy team and had a lot of good performances out of them," said Bauer of the group that includes shortstop South Dakota pledge Bria Riebel who had a hit with 4 assists and a putout on Cline's sharp liner.

"We're excited for the young players to come up and contribute to the tradition we've started."