Softball: Barrington, Buffalo Grove battle through 10 scoreless innings before darkness prevails

Two of the top batteries in the area had fans charged up for the outcome of Monday's Mid-Suburban League softball opener between the defending West and East divisional champions.

MSL champion Barrington, with Princeton recruit Allie Goodwin in the circle and Arizona pledge Emma Kavanagh behind the plate, and host Buffalo Grove, featuring Coastal Carolina commit Kate Ryan pitching with Wisconsin-Whitewater recruit Juliann Jakosalem in the catcher's gear, went 10 innings without scoring a run before being called by darkness.

The game featuring two state-ranked Class 4A teams will resume at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Goodwin allowed only 2 hits (leadoff double to Ryan in the fifth and one-out double to Paige Veller in the ninth).

Ryan surrendered only four singles (two by Gabi Phillis and one apiece from Goodwin and Kavanagh).

Kavanagh almost had 2 hits but with two outs, Bison center fielder Kayla O'Malley made a nice running catch on a fast-falling ball in shallow right center to prevent Lexi Thomas scoring from second base in the sixth inning.

"That's quite a way to open the conference season," Kavanagh said. "That's good softball right there. Both pitchers were throwing great. Hitting was very minimal. A lot of us from both teams know each other from travel softball so that makes it fun. We need to achieve situational hitting when we continue."

Goodwin was perfect through four innings. She finished with 11 strikeouts and one walk (Hanna Hull with two outs in the 10th).

"I can't say I expected this (no runs by either team for 10 innings) but I knew they were going to be a tough team and Kate is a great pitcher," said Goodwin, who defeated Ryan in the MSL championship game last year after the Fillies lost to Buffalo Grove in the regular season. "So I knew it was going to be a great fight and it's still going so we'll get back at it and see how it goes."

Ryan struck out nine and walked only one (Nikki Vojack in the sixth).

"It was kind of crazy (scoreless game)," said Ryan, who retired the first 13 batters she faced before an infield error in the fifth inning allowed Reese Cullen to reach base. "It was definitely fun and very adrenaline inducing. It's nice that we'll finish (Tuesday) because it will give us a fresh start."

"That was a tough game," Jakosalem added. "Kate was on fire. She was really pitching well and when they did put the ball in play, our defense did a good job. It will be exciting to return for the playback."

Both teams got a runner to third base once.

After her double, Ryan advanced to third on McKenna Wagner's sacrifice bunt.

After leading off the eighth with a bunt single, Phillis went to second and third on groundouts by Alexis Foy and Vojack.

"It was two great pitchers and good solid defense (only 1 error)," said Buffalo Grove coach Martha Kelly, whose team is 6-1. "It's probably going to come down to a mistake defensively or whoever can come up with back-to-back hits."

"You don't see these old-fashioned pitcher's duels too often these days," said Barrington coach Perry Peterson whose club stands at 4-3. "It was a great day for both pitchers. They were both tremendous. Everyone was competing at their best but the pitchers were winning out. It was an exciting game on both sides and it was fun."