Fingerman, Barrington firmly in command
After running its record to 11-0 in the Mid-Suburban West on Friday, the Barrington softball players have their minds set on one goal.
The Fillies do not want become complacent.
“We have to keep pushing,” said senior catcher Raegan Fingerman. “We all know that we can not become lethargic. We have been on a streak so we have to keep hitting the ball hard.”
Hitting the ball hard was exactly what Fingerman did in the Fillies’ 7-1 victory at Palatine.
The Ripon College recruit and Fillies’ No. 5 hitter went 4-for-4 with a triple, double, 2 singles and 2 RBI as Barrington improved to 23-1 overall behind sophomore Keenan Dolezal (16-1).
“Raegan is in the middle of the order for a reason,” said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. “We depend on her every game to drive in runs. We appreciate her effort day in and day out.”
After Katie Dehnert led off the top of the second by reaching on an outfield error, Fingerman followed with a double to center for runners on second and third.
Palatine catcher Lauren Logan made a smart catch of a pop foul on the first base line for the first out.
But Morgan Olszewski then reached base on an infield error which allowed Dehnert and courtesy runner Jenna Privatsky to score.
“We made 6 errors and they got 6 runs from them,” said Palatine coach Jeff Manz. “Otherwise, we might still be playing. You’ve got to make the routine plays. Every time we made an error, they scored. It’s inconsistency. You can not give teams extra outs.”
The Fillies added 2 more runs in the second when Erin Ward doubled and came home on a double by Sam Rosenfeld.
Leadoff batter Tess Bolger (2-for-4, triple, 2 RBI) then singled to right, driving in Rosenfeld.
“Coach P motivates us a lot, and we all knew it would be a tough game with Palatine (12-8, 6-3). But we brought our ‘A’ game.”
The Pirates turned in a defensive gem in the bottom of the third with a 1-6-3 double play. Pitcher Megan Hedstrom fielded a grounder back to the mound, turned and tossed a perfect strike to shortstop Tori Walzak, who zipped the ball first baseman Jules Udoni for the first two outs of the inning.
The Fillies had 10 hits, as Loren Krzysko was also a multiple hitter by going 2-for-4.
Palatine’s biggest hit of the game came off the bat of right fielder Courtney English, whose line drive rocket easily cleared the left-center field fence with two outs in the bottom of the sixth to make the score 7-1.
It was English’s second homer of the season.
The Pirates also had hits from Jamie Haze and Udonis while Hedstrom (9-8) struck out two with 6 unearned runs.
Dolezal finished with 10 strikeouts, including three in the bottom of the seventh.
One was a dropped third strike in which the batter reached first base. Logan and Walzak drew walks giving the Pirates the bases loaded when Dolezal finished the game on a groundout to shortstop Ward.