Barrington pulls away from McHenry
DeKALB - What started out as some rocky waters for the Barrington softball team Tuesday ended up smooth sailing in the end.
And the captain of the ship, senior Keenan Dolezal, showed that experience counts when the pressure is on.
But it was a freshman who got the Fillies' boat headed in the right direction of their 13-3 win over McHenry in the semifinals of the Class 4A DeKalb sectional.
Barrington (30-6) will take on the winner of Wednesday's game between Huntley and Machesney Park Harlem at 11 a.m. Saturday for the sectional championship and a spot in next Monday's Barrington supersectional. This is Barrington's 15th 30-win season and its 13th in the last 15 years.
Varsity rookie Julia Kozar, a member of the Fillies' squad for just over a month, was 3-for-4 with 4 RBI as the Fillies pounded out 16 hits off three McHenry pitchers, including 10 off junior Evansville commit Kristin Koepke.
"I've been blessed to be around Julia Kozar for three years now," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson, whose daughter Kendall played on teams with Kozar the past few years. "Julia and I have learned to work together. She's a quiet kid but she has a wicked swing."
Things didn't start well for Dolezal (29-6) and the Fillies but it could have been worse.
With one out, senior Dana Walsh dropped a pop up just inside the first base foul line for an infield hit. She moved to second on an illegal pitch call on a pitch that Dolezal had retired Koepke on. Dolezal then got Koepke to pop out but walked Kentucky-bound Alex Martens, who was 3-for-3 with 2 RBI after that. Senior Hannah Crowley then singled home Walsh to give the Warriors (28-7) a 1-0 lead. Dolezal was able to get out of the game without any further damage by striking out Amanda Manssen.
"Obviously I didn't have my best game but my teammates were awesome," said Dolezal, the Loyola signee who won her school record 88th game, allowing 8 hits with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks and 2 hit batters.
"We knew (the Warriors) were a good team, a hard-hitting team, but we knew how to play certain players."
Barrington came right back in the top of the second to score 3 runs and take a lead it never relinquished. Kozar's 2-out single to left scored Jenna Fingerman and Haley Luczak then, after Dolezal beat out an infield single, Carly Kordich singled to bring Kozar home.
Kozar was at it again in the top of the fourth, driving a double to the gap in right-center to score Luczak, who had singled with two outs. Dolezal's single scored Kozar to give the Fillies, who scored 8 of their 13 runs with two outs, a 5-1 lead.
"I was just thinking I have to be the best I can for my teammates," said Kozar, who added an RBI single in Barrington's 8-run seventh inning. "I just wanted to support them and try my hardest. The coaches had scouted (McHenry) and we had a lot of intel on them so I was prepared. I just went up and said I have to hit it as hard as I can."
The Fillies dodged a major bullet in the bottom of the fifth, when McHenry mounted a comeback and closed the gap to 5-3. With the bases loaded and no outs, Koepke hit a screamer to senior Julie Magro at first, who caught the line drive and beat Walsh back to first for a double play. Martens followed with a 2-run single to make it a 5-3 game and after Dolezal hit Crowley with a pitch, she got Manssen to fly out to right to end the inning.
"I've gotten confident pitching in big games like this," Dolezal said, "but I have to give it all to my teammates. They came out ready to hit today."
The Fillies put the game away with their 8-run explosion in the top of the seventh, sending 14 batters to the plate and rapping out 8 hits. Kordich had a 2-run single in the inning while Fingerman, junior Jamie Brown, Kozar and Kelly Katis all drove in runs as well.
"We just kept on fighting," said Peterson. "McHenry is a phenomenal team but we have the ability to continue to improve and we have to get better. But today was a nice showing against a very good team."