Softball: Barrington bounces back after rare MSL loss
Barrington hall of fame softball coach Perry Peterson returned to where it all started for him in the mid 1980s as an assistant coach for Prospect's softball team while he was still a student at the District 214 school.
But on this visit to Mt. Prospect, he was hardly reminiscing about those days.
"I wasn't thinking about that as much as I might have in the past because right now I'm just trying to right our team," said Peterson, whose club was coming off its first Mid-Suburban League loss after 25 wins dating back to May 9, 2019. "I'm trying to get them to play on all cylinders. Like many teams at this time of the season, we are battling a lot of things so we are working hard and trying our best to improve."
After Monday's 5-2 loss to visiting Buffalo Grove, the ship was back sailing on a straight line as the Fillies (20-4, 10-1) posted a 12-1 triumph over the Knights behind Allie Goodwin's 3-hitter and 8 strikeouts in Mt. Prospect.
That was hardly the only strong part of Goodwin's game.
The junior ace (17-4) also went 4-for-5 with her seventh homer and 3 RBI to pace the offense that broke open a scoreless tie with 11 runs after two were out in the top of the third inning.
The defending MSL champs, who have now won at least 20 games for 29 consecutive seasons under Peterson, had eight hits in the big inning, including the 2-run homer by Goodwin which made it 10-0 and catcher Ainsley Muno's team-high 11th homer, a solo shot to center for the 11-0 advantage.
Riley Depa's RBI double to left center made it 11-1 in the bottom of the third before Barrington's final run in the top of the fifth. That one came on Goodwin's RBI double to left that scored freshman and No. 9 hitter Lexi Thomas (2-for-3, RBI), who had doubled to right center with one out.
"I was definitely seeing the ball well," Goodwin said. "I wasn't trying to do much. I was just trying to put it in play and hit it hard. Pitching wise, we (Goodwin and catcher Muno who went 2-for-3) really worked with Coach P on mixing it up and trying to stay ahead of the hitters, make them put it in play and let our defense work."
"Allie was terrific on both sides of the field," Peterson said. "I was proud of our team today. They did a good job."
Also hitting safely for Barrington were Amanda Glowacki, Ellie Wintringer, Brynn Nevers, Kate Winkleman and Nikki Vojack, who was robbed of a second hit on a nice catch by right fielder Megan McPherson, who scored Prospect's only run.
"Monday's game (loss to BG) was a hard game," Goodwin said. "We fought but BG gave their best punch and got us. Our goal was to come back and win this game and prove we can bounce back from a loss. The loss was definitely humbling. But BG is a good team and we realize that we can't take anything for granted. We have to push every game."
Prospect (10-4-1, 5-3) was led by Alexandra Garnmeister's 2-for-2 performance. The left fielder also made a nice grab on Vojack's towering fly ball down the left field line in the fourth inning.
"She (Garnmeister) was really barreling the ball up today," said Prospect coach Krystina Mackowiak. "She has been on a bit of a hot streak which has been good to see. And Riley (Depa) had that nice double.
"We knew Barrington was a good hitting team," added Mackowiak, who used pitchers Ashley Simon (starter who went 2 2/3 innings) and Emily Scolaro throwing to catcher Rachael Sasanuma. "We had to do our job on offense but their pitcher kept us off the bases and that was the difference."