Dolezal leads Barrington's charge

Barrington's battery was fully charged to start the week against Fremd.

Fillies junior pitcher Keenan Dolezal struck out 13 batters and her freshman catcher Rachel Krzysko blasted the game-winning RBI with her fourth homer of the season as host Barrington won the Mid-Suburban West softball game 5-1 at the Fields of Dreams on Monday.

"Keenan was spectacular," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson of the Loyola recruit who walked only one batter.

Fremd went ahead 1-0 on Tracy Welninski's single to center which drove home Alyssa Garcia (walk) from second with two outs in the top of the first.

Leigh Farina's double to right then gave the Vikings (9-3, 2-1) runners on second and third before Dolezal (9-5) got out of the inning with a strikeout.

"Keenan did a phenomenal job," said Krzysko, who caught the 6-hitter. "She was really on target."

Just like Krzysko was with her swing that gave Barrington a 3-1 lead.

Krzysko's 2-run homer over the left-center field came after Jenna Fingerman had singled to right with one out and it gave Barrington a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

"She changed the game with that home run," Dolezal said. "I am really happy for Rachel and the team. I can't believe her (Krzysko). She's so little but hits with so much power."

Kind of like someone else in Krzysko's family. Rachel's sister Loren graduated last spring as the Fillies' all-time home run leader. Just like her sister, Rachel also wears No. 12.

The Fillies' number of runs increased in the fourth inning when Krzysko walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kat Panos (1-for-2) and scored on Carly Kordich's single to right making it 4-1.

Barrington (10-5, 2-1) got its final run in the fifth when Kelly Katis led off with a single to center, went to second on Jennifer Inamoto's sacrifice bunt and scored on Kate Dehnert's single to left.

Katis also sparkled in the field, taking away a base hit from North Park University recruit Kayla Kaufman (1-for-3) with a lunging backhand stab and then throw to first baseman Dehnert.

Katis also made a nice back-pedaling catch of a popup in shallow left to end the third inning.

"That was a great play in the 3-4 hole," Peterson said of Katis' glovework on Kaufman's rocket. "Kelly has a knack for playing second base."

In addition to Kaufman's two-out single in the fourth, the Vikings also had a two-out single to center by Julie Josten in the third inning, a two-out single to right by Farina (2-for-3) in the sixth and a two-out double by catcher Holly Straup in the seventh.

Straup also caught a runner trying to steal second to end the Fillies' fourth.

"We got outplayed," said Fremd coach Jim Weaver. "Barrington played better than us. You've got to give them the credit."

The Fillies were credited with 9 hits. Jennifer Inamoto was 2-for-3 while Krzysko finished 2-for-2, including her homer and a walk.

"It was an inside fastball," Krzysko said of her big blast. "I'm not looking for home runs. I'm just looking to drive balls and help my team out."

Dolezal sure helped her team, too. She also collected 2 assist and a putout.

"We didn't play so well on Saturday (doubleheader split at Libertyville," Dolezal said. "We were upset about that day so we were really hungry to win this game. I'm really happy we came out ready to play."

Fremd pitcher Joanna Josten (7-2) struck out three.

"We've got to play a lot better if we want to beat excellent teams," Weaver said. "I feel we are a pretty good team abut we didn't show it today."