This one matters most for Mattera, Lake Zurich
Number thirteen sure wasn't unlucky for Megan Mattera.
The Lake Zurich softball slugger and ace pitcher broke the school's single-season home run record by hitting her 13th against Barrington in Thursday's semifinal of the Buffalo Grove Class 4A sectional.
But No. 13 meant much more than a school record.
It meant No. 6 Lake Zurich (24-11) advances to Saturday's championship against top-seeded Fremd (30-4).
Mattera's one-out blast over the left-field fence in the top of the eighth inning proved to be the difference in the Bears' 1-0 victory over No. 2 Barrington (32-6).
Mattera was also the difference on the pitcher's mound as the junior hurled a 1-hitter to junior catcher Paige Goldberg with 6 strikeouts.
Mattera, who now has a school record 61 RBI, did not receive any pitches near the strike zone in her previous two at-bats before the home run.
She was basically intentionally walked both times after popping out to the catcher in her first at-bat. Then came her memorable homer.
"After I hit it, I was thinking 'Man, they may regret it now,' " Mattera said of Barrington's decision not to intentionally walk her. "I didn't even think I got a good swing on it. But it went over. I just kept running the bases until I heard something."
Soon enough, she heard the cheers and Lake Zurich had finally scored after stranding 9 runners through the first 7 innings.
Mattera hit her game-winner on a 1-2 count.
"Megan is a great two-strike hitter," said first-year Bears coach Michaela Towne. "I can't tell you how many two-strike hits she has gotten."
Barrington ace Kiley Dolezal (29-6) struck out the first batter in the eighth before Mattera stepped to the plate.
"We purposely walked her twice (with a runner on second each time)," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "We didn't intend to throw it anywhere around the plate that last time. We basically said throw it near her shins. We were throwing a pitch that would be a country mile inside.
"All you can do is tip your cap and say 'Congratulations to you.' Is she a good hitter? Absolutely."
And Mattera made sure the Fillies' good hitters weren't teeing off.
Jordan Wekony's two-out single up the middle was the only hit for the Fillies.
"If you look back on our season, there were days we didn't hit," Peterson said. "There was a pretty good chance when we didn't score 5 runs, we didn't win."
Lake Zurich won despite leaving multiple runners on base in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings. Erin Sweeny (2-for-4) and Kelly Neises each had bunt singles in the fifth when the Bears had the bases loaded with two out.
Dolezal got the next batter on a flyout to center fielder Nora Logue.
Lake Zurich had runners on first and second with one out in the sixth but Dolezal got a groundout to shortstop Kelsey Kazmier and a tap in front of the plate, which catcher Kristin Kuhn scooped up and threw to first baseman Kiersten Tinkoff to end the inning.
In the seventh, Lake Zurich produced back-to-back one-out singles by Kelly Blume and Ella Aslan (2-for-3) before Dolezal escaped again.
But in the eighth, Mattera took matters into her own bat and then was able to notch her 21st win in 31 decisions.
"We had a really solid game plan on how we wanted to attack them and Megan and our defense just about executed it to a T," Towne said. " "Megan is definitely in pitching shape now. She is throwing harder now than at the beginning of the season."
Kaitlin Beaver and Alli McGinnis also had hits for the Bears.
"We know it's always a good battle when Lake Zurich plays Barrington," Mattera said. "We didn't have a chance to see them in the Spring Fling (season-opening tournament) so we were glad we had this chance. It feels great. I have so many emotions now. I don't know how to describe it."
Peterson described his team's season with pride.
"It was a terrific season," he said. "I can't tell you how many people came up to me and said they couldn't believe how successful these girls were again. I'm really proud of what we were able to accomplish."