Softball: Albrecht pitches, hits Barrington to sweep of Lakes
Well, let's look at the resume.
Jackie Albrecht has already been part of a Mid-Suburban League West girls basketball co-champion, and conference championship teams in volleyball and swimming.
So how has she started her final sport of this unorthodox COVID-19 high school sports year?
How about a grand slam and a no-hitter in one day for her state power softball team?
The senior and North Dakota softball recruit blasted the grand slam for a 4-0 lead in Barrington's 15-5 five-inning win to begin Saturday's twin bill with visiting Lakes, then fired the Fillies' first no-hitter (14 strikeouts, 2 walks) since April, 30, 2018 for a 3-0 shutout in the second game.
"It's exciting," said Albrecht after going to 6-0 on the mound for the 9-0 Fillies.
"Friday's game was really hard. It took a lot to get that done."
Albrecht was the winning pitcher in Friday's 5-3 win over 2019 Class 4A state champion Huntley, as sophomore Ainsley Muno hit a walk-off 2-run homer for the Filles.
Muno (2-for-4) hit another 2-run homer Saturday in Game 1 while teammate Teagan Buckley (2-for-2) also clubbed a 2-run blast. Ellie Wintringer (3-for-3, 2 RBI) followed Muno's homer in the second inning with a solo blast to center. Brynn Nevers was 2-for-4 and freshman catcher Emma Kavanagh belted an RBI double in the second inning as Barrington pushed across 6 runs in each of the first two innings.
The Fillies have 17 homers in 9 games.
"It's been amazing," said Albrecht, the only senior on Barrington's roster. "A lot of people talk about the (home run) records. But it's not about the records. We just need to hit the ball. We have a lot of power to hit the ball out of the park and that's what we've been doing."
"We always talk about hitting up and down the lineup, one through nine," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson, who has 851 wins, second most of any active coach in the state (Elk Grove's Ken Grams is the leader).
"That was an amazing day for Jackie. She is such an important contributor to what we are doing and she should be proud of herself. We certainly are."
Junior center fielder Grace Dunsworth had the Eagles' fans cheering with two spectacular diving catches (one to her left and another straight ahead) to rob Kate Winkelman (RBI single in the first) of hits in the second and third innings.
"My favorite thing is defense," Dunsworth said. "Barrington is a really good team but it was really fun when we started hitting the ball toward the end of the game (5 runs combined in the third and fourth innings). Playing this competition definitely helps us with our mental toughness and helps us prepare for the rest of the season."
Dunsworth's bat (2-for-3, 2 run double to center) helped her team get on the board in Game 1. Riley Hanrahan (2-for-2, RBI double,) Ally Dietz (1-for-2) and Brooke Goyings (1-for-2) also had hits.
"It's hard to mentally focus when you are chasing 12 runs from the second inning," said Lakes coach Bill Hamill. " But we came back with 2 and 3 runs in the third and fourth innings. We started hitting the ball well."
Sophomore Allie Goodwin (3-0) got the win in Game 1, tossing a 7-hitter with 10 strikeouts and 2 walks. Cassidy Berchtold (2-2) pitched the first inning for Lakes (2-5) and Hanrahan (0-2) entered for the final four.
Anne Willis (0-1) tossed a 7-hitter for Lakes in the second game.
"We didn't back her up much offensively but she took care of business defensively," Hamill said. "Anne did a great job. We were going to play her again in the outfield in Game 2 but we saw Cassidy had some tenderness in her arm, so we had to put Riley in Game 1. We could have stayed with Riley in Game 2 but we said 'you know what?' let's go with Annie and she did a heck of a job."
Top hitters for Barrington in Game 2 were Kavanagh (team-high fifth home run of the season), Nevers (2-for-2, double), Muno (2-for-3, RBI) and Wintringer (double).