Softball: Barrington's offense overpowers McHenry
Barrington's lineup showed what it's capable of Friday in its nonconference softball game against McHenry.
The Fillies, who returned every starter but one from their record-setting, 62-home run offense last season, sent 19 batters to the plate in a 13-run bottom of the second inning and beat McHenry, 16-2, in five innings at Barrington's Fields of Dreams.
"The game is created nowadays where offense impacts so much more than it used to," Barrington coach Perry Peterson said. "You've got to have a vicious offense. We've asked every kid to make a contribution, and the best way to do that is with all nine kids where everybody is turning the lineup over and there's not an out in the order."
Sophomore catcher Emma Kavanagh had the loudest hit of the game, a 2-run home run that smacked high off the center-field scoreboard to give the Fillies a 7-0 lead. The next batter, junior first baseman Ainsley Muno, hit a home run over the left-field fence to make it 8-0.
Kavanagh (2 for 3, 4 RBI) later got a second at-bat in the inning and had a 2-run double for the last 2 runs of the inning. Barrington totaled 11 hits in the inning with all but one batter recording a hit. Ellie Wintringer (2 for 3) had three at-bats and was one of five Fillies to score 2 runs in the inning.
Kavanagh said that she has been taking swings off Peterson before games to get her timing and mechanics down.
"I've been working on staying quiet with my hands," said Kavanagh, who remembered hitting a similar home run off the scoreboard as a freshman. "I was trying to slow everything down, don't let [the McHenry pitcher] rush me, and I did.
"The momentum completely changed in the dugout. We went from quiet to insane. One person starts hitting, and it kind of just falls in place. It builds up confidence for everybody."
After Barrington (4-1) added a single run in the third to grab a 14-0 lead, McHenry scored its 2 runs in the top of the fourth on a single by Abby Geis and sacrifice fly by Emma Stolzman. Senior Gianna Buske pitched the final two innings for the Warriors and allowed 3 runs on 2 hits.
McHenry coach Mikaela Mitsch took Friday's loss as a learning experience. The Warriors (1-1) were playing in only their second game and had not held practice outside since before their game against Richmond-Burton on March 22.
"We're trying to show our girls the elite teams that are around the area," Mitsch said. "Every team wants to think they're good, and I think our team is very good. Unfortunately, it didn't show today. There are some things that we have to take care of in-house. Not forgetting this game is probably the message. Remember the hurt of this game and come back from it."
Barrington senior third baseman Brynn Nevers drove in 3 runs and Amanda Glowacki (2 for 3) and Lizzie Galovich both had 2 RBI for the Fillies. Junior shortstop Nikki Vojack was 2 for 3 with a double and 3 runs scored.
The Fillies, ranked third in the Illinois Coaches Association Class 4A preseason poll, lost a 1-run game to the No. 2-ranked team, Lincoln-Way Central, in their previous game Tuesday. That result served as motivation to get going again.
"That was a good experience because I think that kind of opens a lot of eyes here," Peterson said. "You can't win with just four kids. There's 15 kids on this team and everybody needs to make a contribution in order for us to be successful.
"That was a very positive experience to get pushed around and beat like that. [Our team] worked very hard and came out with a little more fire in their system and played some better softball. It was a good game for us today."