Softball: Barrington rallies past Fremd, pads MSL West lead
With first place hanging in the balance of Wednesday's Mid-Suburban West softball game at Barrington's Fields of Dreams, the Class 4A state-ranked Fillies found themselves trailing 3-0 heading into the bottom of the third against Fremd, also state ranked.
So what was the mindset for the 16-time MSL champions?
"The game means too much to just give up," said Barrington hall of fame coach Perry Peterson. "We had to keep battling."
And battle they did, as the Fillies (26-2-1, 14-0) rallied for a 7-3 triumph to put themselves in a two-game lead over Fremd (22-4, 12-2) with two games remaining.
"It's a great Fremd team," said Peterson, who owns 14 MSL crowns himself and moved to within 3 wins of 1,000 for his career. "We have a lot of respect for them. We just kept working hard and things started to bounce our way. We manufactured a few things along the way, too, which was great to see."
Junior right fielder Maddie Van Ryn, who made two great catches in the final two innings to rob Avery Sheridan and Emily Usesil, went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk and RBI to help spark the batting order that produced 13 hits.
"Honestly, we just needed to talk with everyone and make sure everyone was playing their role," Van Ryn said of the Fillies' comeback. "It was just supporting each other even when you're not having your best game."
Leading the Barrington offense was senior shortstop Shannon Kenney who went 3-for-4 with the game-tying double in the fifth inning.
"We were just really confident in our offense and defense and we knew that Katie (Taraschewsky, Fillies pitcher who is 23-2) could get it done for us," Kenney said. "So we just needed to pick up our bats a little bit and we did. I'm really proud of everyone and how they pulled through. It was super exciting."
Other multiple hitters for Barrington were Harlow Engel (2-for-4), Reese Cullen (2-for-3, 2 walks) and Nina Brebach (2-for-2, RBI).
"Defensively, we just didn't get it done, it left a lot to be desired," said Fremd coach Josh Teschner, who went with Hailey Lucas (16-4) on the mound for the first 5 1/3 innings and finished with junior Molly Kanupke.
“But when you play a Barrington team, especially this one which for our money is probably the best lineup we've seen all season and that's saying a lot considering the schedule we play, there are no holes. Every single batter is up there competing and working and today we didn't respond to that defensively."
Fremd got on the board first in the top of the second with three singles (Amanda Poniecki and Avery Sheridan had the first two), including Penelope Schmidt's two-out safety to center field which brought home Poniecki.
Fremd increased its lead to 3-0 in the top of third when senior Avery Sadorf ripped a stand-up double down the left field line and sophomore Anna Montella lined a two-out 2-run homer over the left field fence.
Barrington scored its first run in the bottom of the third by getting a two-out RBI single to right from Kenney to score Engel, who led off the inning with a base hit to center and stole second base.
The Fillies took the lead with a 4-run fifth inning , led off by a walk to Cullen. Taraschewsky followed with a single to right center for runners on the corners and moments later pinch-runner Izzy Zwolinski came home on a wild pitch to make it 3-2.
Shannon Kenney's double to right center tied the game at 3-3 before back-to-back RBI singles from Van Ryn and Brebach made it 5-3.
The Fillies added 2 insurance runs in the sixth when Cullen doubled down the left field line and Zwolinski came home on a passed ball with two outs. Kenney then singled to left with two outs and eventually came home on an error to extend the lead to 7-3.
Fremd's offense (11 hits) was led by Sadorf (3-for-4), Montella (2-for-4, HR, 2B) and Poniecki (2-for-3, walk).
"Offensively, we liked our approach," Teschner said. "We liked how we put the ball in play and for the most part, that's probably one of the most hits in a game against Barrington, especially recently."