Softball: Antioch edges Barrington in early season showdown
Two of the top-ranked girls softball teams in the state met Monday afternoon when Barrington hosted Antioch in an early-season showdown.
The No. 3-ranked Class 4A Fillies fell behind the top-ranked Class 3A Sequoits 5-1 early in the contest and they could never quite recover as Antioch (4-0) held on for a 5-4 nonconference victory.
The Sequoits got rolling right away in the top of the first inning as University of Illinois-bound Gabby Debevec reached base on a one-out walk before winning pitcher Jacey Schuler reached base on an error by the center fielder to put runners on second and third.
Antioch's Emily Brecht reached base on an infield hit that deflected off losing pitcher Allie Goodwin, but Debevec was able to score on the play for a 1-0 lead on a throwing error by Goodwin.
Then a 2-run single by Grace Green staked the Sequoits to an early 3-0 advantage before Barrington quickly cut the lead to 3-1 on a solo homer to center field by Goodwin in the bottom of the first.
"They scored a lot of runs early so we've got to do a little better job of getting off to a better start," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson. "But give credit to them, they deserve it, they played better than us and they deserved to win."
Antioch got on the scoreboard again in the top of the second when Jazzy Fisher reached base on a walk before teammate Eden Echevarria reached base on a fielder's choice. Then after Debevec walked, Schuler came through with a 2-run single to right-center for an early 5-1 advantage.
"It's a huge win, this is the first time we've played Barrington in 11 years so it felt great coming out here and getting the win," said Antioch coach Anthony Rocco. "It was an excellent game all the way around, and we have a lot of top-ranked teams on our schedule. We're trying to get ready for the playoffs, so we loaded up against some good 4A teams and we're going to try to stay consistent."
The Fillies continued their comeback in the bottom of the second as Amanda Glowacki singled, moved to third on a double by Kate Winkelman, and scored on a wild pitch. Then an RBI infield hit by Brynn Nevers scored Winkelman to cut the lead to 5-3.
Barrington scored again in the bottom of the fifth when Ainsley Muno walked with two outs and scored on an RBI double by pinch hitter Teagan Buckley to cut the gap to 5-4.
The Fillies also had runners on second on third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Schuler struck out the final batter to seal the exciting victory.
"It was very exciting. There are a couple of girls on their team that I play travel ball with so it was exciting to get a win against them too," said Debevec, who had 3 walks and 2 runs. "They hit the ball, but we fielded well. Last year we came up a game short but this year we're hoping to make it all the way and based off the first four games we've played I think we can do that."