Dolezal pitches Barrington to a regional triumph

The No. 7 she wears on her jersey is Keenan Dolezal's favorite number for no particular reason.

But there is a reason Barrington has been a winning program over the past three years - Dolezal's numbers on the pitcher's mound.

The winningest pitcher in Barrington softball history notched victory No. 87 on Thursday as the Fillies posted a 10-2 decision over Crystal Lake Central to win their own Class 4A regional at the Fields of Dreams.

Give an assist to the second-winningest pitcher in school history, Abby Reed (80 wins), who was the last Fillies hurler to win a regional championship game at the Fields of Dreams, in 2004.

"Abby came in this week to talk to the kids about what it's like to play and win in a big game like this on this field," said 23-year Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "She's a wonderful person who gave some inspirational comments on what it's like to be a regional champion."

That's the title the Fillies hold for a 14th consecutive season.

Dolezal fired a 3-hitter with 12 strikeouts to improve to 28-6.

The Fillies (29-6) advance to Tuesday's 4:30 p.m. DeKalb High School sectional semifinal to play the winner of Friday's Grayslake North regional championship game between Prairie Ridge and McHenry.

Barrington's offense was explosive again, producing 4 runs in the bottom of first inning for Dolezal, who fell behind 1-0.

"I know my team will always eventually start hitting but to do it in the first inning, after we were down 1-0, was awesome," Dolezal said.

"We knew they (CLC) had won their first game 8-1 (over Crystal Lake South on Tuesday) and we knew their pitcher was good (Bradley recruit Megan Mahaffy). So to come back and get those runs in the bottom of the first inning was a real good feeling."

Highlighting the 4-run first was a one-out double by junior second baseman Kelly Katis (team-high 16 doubles) followed by back-to-back singles by junior catcher Rachel Macdonald and sophomore right fielder Rachel Krzysko (3-for-4, RBI).

Haley Luczak drew a bases-loaded walk before freshman shortstop Julia Kozar singled home 2 runs for the 4-0 lead.

A RBI single by Krzysko made it 5-1 in the second inning and Kozar belted a two-out triple in the third inning and made it home on the play (error) for the 6-1 advantage.

The Tigers (21-9) got to within 6-2 in the fourth when cleanup hitter Sarah Frank led off with a single to right center and eventually scored.

Leadoff batter Amy Walsh had the other 2 hits for CLC (infield singles in the fifth and seventh innings).

"We hadn't been up against Dolezal before," said Tigers coach Brian Strombom. "And wow, she is tough. We struggled to deal with her. Our swings were OK but not what we thought they should be. Credit to her (Dolezal)."

Dolezal improved her career record to 87-19.

"My freshman year was a little rough," Dolezal said when asked if she thought one day she would win more games than anyone in school history.

"Coaches (Mike) Freese and Jon (Sander) and all my coaches really helped me out, I was in a slump as a freshman."

The Fillies' bats were not slumping late in the game, either, as they tacked on 4 more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Junior Jamie Brown, who 10 days earlier returned from ACL surgery, led off the inning with her first career homer over the left center field fence.

Kozar (3-for-3, 2 RBI) followed with a single to center and came home on a triple to right field by Carly Kordich (3-for-4, RBI, 2 runs). Katis and Krzysko added RBI singles to make it 10-2.

Kozar has done an admiral job in place of talented junior Liz Sweeney, who underwent successful ACL surgery on Wednesday and joined her teammates for postgame celebration photos.

In all, the Fillies had 13 hits.

The Tigers took the 1-0 lead in the first inning without a hit. Walsh walked and came home on an infield error.

"We came out and got that first run right away," Strombom said. "We had every reason to feel good about the circumstances. But they came right back at us and then we were chasing the rest of the way. Their pitcher was very composed and she has a lot of experience. She was able to make it tough on us."

Mahaffy struck out four in the final game of her four-year varsity career.

"I was very impressed with how our kids hit the ball," Peterson said. "We had a lot of respect for their pitcher. They are kind of in the same situation as we are, with the team leader on the mound. So take nothing away from her (Mahaffy). She's a great pitcher."