Krzysko connects as Barrington tops Maine West
One of the last players to leave the Barrington dugout Monday night was junior third baseman Loren Krzysko.
The Fillies' No. 12, who matched her jersey number by hitting a school-record 12 homers last spring, was using a push broom to sweep away the sand that had drifted onto the cement floor of the dugout during the opening game of the Spring Fling tournament.
Moments earlier, Krzysko was using her bat to sweep softballs over the center-field fence.
Picking up where she left off as a sophomore, Krzysko belted two sizzling line-drive homers over the center field fence while going 3-for-3 with 4 RBI to help lead the Fillies to a 7-1 triumph over Maine West.
Barrington advanced to today's 4:30 p.m. semifinal of its own eight-team tourney to face Hersey, which also used the home run ball as part of its arsenal in a 17-7 win over Lake Zurich.
Sarah Platt, Alex Tinaglia and Melissa Cecala's long blasts gave the Huskies 1 more home run than they hit the last two seasons.
Krzysko's first homer came on a 2-2 pitch with two outs in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
Maine West, under the coaching debut of Amy Gonzales, tied the game at 1-1 on consecutive singles by junior Renee Pond, sophomore Abbey Herling and senior Caroline Baird (RBI) in the top of the second.
Krzysko gave the Fillies the lead back in the bottom of the third with an RBI single to center scoring Raegan Fingerman, who led off the inning with a single to left.
Junior Savonnah Osmanski capped the 3-run inning with a two-run double to left-center, scoring Kelsey Kazmier (2-for-4, double) and Kryzsko.
“They (Barrington) are a great team all the way up and down the lineup,” said Gonzales, who coincidentally coached her first game on the field adjacent to where her former college roommate Molly Freeman was directing her Hersey Huskies. Gonzales and Freeman were teammates on a nationally-ranked Illinois-Chicago softball team about 12 years ago.
The Fillies scored their final 3 runs in the fifth inning when Krzysko belted her second blast following Kazmier's leadoff double. Jordan Wekony's RBI double scored Danielle Di Iorio for the final run.
“All fall and winter, I just did the same hitting drill,” said Krzysko about her fast start at the plate. “I just hit off the tee and set it up at different positions around the plate. It was always my goal since freshman year (to get the single-season home run record) but I didn't really think about it until I got close to it last season.”
Barrington coach Perry Peterson used three pitchers.
Freshman Keenan Dolezal (7 strikeouts, 2 walks, 4 hits) went the first 5 innings while junior Cassidy Kraimer and senior Emma Woods went the sixth and seventh, respectively, allowing no hits while facing seven batters.
“We felt all three pitchers threw well,” Peterson said. “And Loren (Krzysko) is an absolute premier hitter. Her bat speed is just remarkable.”
Senior Katie Fitzgerald had Maine West's fourth hit with a one-out single to right in the fourth inning.
“We'll need a few more repititions but I thought the girls did a good job for their first game and not having a lot of time to practice outdoors,” Gonzales said. “I thought Ariel (Smolik-Valles, Warriors junior ace who pitched all 7 innings) did well against a good-hitting team.
“We'll learn from this. I was happy with what we did. We had a few minor mistakes but executed some nice things. We have a few things to work on but for a first game I'm very happy and proud of the girls.”
Shortstop Holly Wengerski made two nice grabs of line drives by Ally McLaughlin and Kazmier in the first inning before Krzysko hit her first homer.
West junior catcher Gina Larucci tossed nice throws from behind the plate to get runners stealing at second and third base.
Hersey 17, Lake Zurich 7: Hersey junior pitcher Sarah Platt went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and one of Huskies' 3 home runs while also tossing a 6-hitter with 1 strikeouts and 2 walks.
“Sarah was great, walking only two batters,” said Hersey coach Molly Freeman. “That's where she struggled last year, so this shows how dedicated she has been in the off-season.”
“My pitching coach (Russ Ott) for the travel season really helped me and got my confidence up,” Platt said. “I'm really excited for a great season.
“We hit all the way through our lineup. That really helps my confidence. We did a nice job keeping everyone up throughout the whole game.”
The Huskies erupted for 21 hits, led by Val Burke (4-for-5, 1 RBI), Haley Henriksen (3-for-4, 2 doubles), Angela Schmiederer (3-for-4, 2 doubles), Melissa Cecala (3-for-5, 3 RBI, 3-run homer, double), Alysia Zaucha (2-for-5, triple, double) and Alex Tinaglia (2-for-5, solo homer).
Zaucha was playing left field for the first time after serving as the shortstop for the junior varsity last season.
“And she had two nice grabs in left field,” Freeman said. “Our bats were the big thing. We know this is a very talented team. So we were excited to start the season and the girls were dynamite.”