Bolger takes the lead in Barrington victory

Going up against one of the state’s elite pitchers, Barrington’s softball team was focused on Saturday.

From the very first pitch.

Leadoff batter Tess Bolger drove New Trier pitcher Allison Quigley’s offering to the left field corner for the first of 4 home runs — all in the first two innings — as the Fillies went on to post a 13-7 victory in the championship game of the Class 4A Rolling Meadows sectional.

The Fillies (34-1) will face Warren (27-5) in their own Barrington supersectional Monday at 7 p.m. at the Fields of Dreams.

Bolger (4-for-4, walk) wasn’t through playing long ball after her first at-bat. The senior center fielder came right back with a solo shot over the left field fence with two outs in the second inning.

Maggie O’Hara’s 3-run blast over the left field fence in the first inning and Katie Dehnert’s 2-run shot just inside the left field foul pole in the second inning were the other homers by Barrington which now has a school-record 54 for the season.

All this off a pitcher who was 21-0 going into the game with a 0.56 ERA.

Quigley had given up only 16 runs all season and the Fillies got 10 in 3¹⁄₃ innings.

“By far the best hitting team I’ve faced,” said the classy junior right-hander. “We’ve faced some pretty good hitting teams, like Downers Grove North, but we were able to keep them guessing.

“Barrington came out and watched me pitch (in Wednesday’s semifinal win over Lake Zurich) Wednesday and I think they knew what was coming. I guess they just knew my tendencies.”

But the Trevians (29-3) knew how to get some runs, too, and came back with 5 in the top of the third to make it 8-5.

Barrington answered with 2 more in the top of the fourth on an RBI groundout single by catcher Raegan Fingerman and an RBI single to center by O’Hara, who finished the game 3-for-4 with 6 RBI.

“We were just determined to give (Quigley) her first loss,” said O’Hara, who now has 6 home runs this spring. “We knew we had to hit early in the count because we saw that she (Quigley) threw a lot of first-pitch strikes. So we figured if we could jump on her early in the count we could maybe frazzle her.”

Barrington’s lead expanded to 13-5 when it scored 3 times in the fifth, getting an RBI double to right by Loren Krzysko, and a 2-run single by O’Hara.

Bolger, who has 7 homers this spring, started the 3-run fifth-inning rally with an infield hit and then stole second.

“Coach P (Perry Peterson) told me to be aggressive because their pitcher didn’t have a history of walking a lot of people (only 24 walks in 138²⁄₃ innings),” said Bolger who hit 2 homers in one game for the first time in her career.

“We wanted to be aggressive from the get-go. She was a very good pitcher. She brought it. I think the key was that our coaches had us well-prepared to hit today.”

New Trier coach John Cadwell and Quigley did not disagree.

“They (Barrington hitters) did a real nice job,” Cadwell said. “Allison does like to get ahead of batters and normally she has the repertoire to do it. Today they sat on her pitches and hit a couple that hurt.

“It was a tough game for her. Allison has been our go-to all season, both pitching and offensively. She is such a courageous competitor. She doesn’t let anything get to her. Today just wasn’t her day but she will have many more. She is just an outstanding performer.”

Barrington sophomore Keenan Dolezal (27-1) has been an outstanding performer all season, too.

The right-hander retired the first six batters she faced and ended up with 7 strikeouts.

“We will just keep reminding her how good she is,” Peterson said. “It was a tough day to pitch. Just look at the IHSA score zone and you will see some high-scoring games. It was not a pitcher’s day.”

But it was sure a hitting day for the Fillies, who collected 15 hits, including 2 doubles by Krzysko (2-for-3) and 2 hits apiece from Fingerman and left fielder Morgan Olszewski. Sam Rosenfeld also had a hit for Barrington.

“We knew how good that kid (Quigley) was” Peterson said. “She’s tremendous. We have unbelievable respect for John (Cadwell) and Dave (Snyder, assistant). They had that team so prepared for us.”

The Fillies were prepared as well, especially Bolger, before you could even blink an eye.

“That’s her role, to get us going,” said Peterson, who won his eighth sectional in 21 years at Barrington. “Sometimes not always with exclamation points (2 home runs) like today. I’m thrilled for her. Maggie was outstanding, too.

“Maggie really did a great job putting her mind to hitting line drives. And Loren (Krzysko) is unreal. She is the glue that keeps us together.”

Cadwell liked the way the Trevians stayed together after the early deficit.

“I was just pleased the girls didn’t get intimidated and didn’t get down,” he said. “Even after the first two innings, they were undaunted. Barrington is certainly one of the best hitting teams we have seen.

“I don’t think I’ve seen any other team hit so well. Everyone in their lineup can hit. They were aggressive. Ali didn’t have her best stuff but they are a good hitting team.

“Offensively, we were putting the ball in play but we were not hitting with the authority we normally do. In true form, our kids responded when they fell behind. Barrington bent, but stiffened at the end and prevented us from pulling it out.”

Trevians cleanup hitter Alexa Caruso went 2-for-3 with 2 RBI.

“Usually we are the first team to come out and score,” she said. “But our captains did a great job keeping us in the game. After the first few innings they said it’s no big deal and said, ‘We’re a good team and we’ve got to get some runs,’ and we did. ”

Of course, though, the Fillies had the most runs at the end.

“We scored 18 runs in the sectional,” Peterson said. “When you do that, your chances of winning are pretty good. I’m so proud of the whole team.”