Softball: Stoettner leads Barrington over Fremd for MSL West crown

Senior Emily Stoettner pitched the most important innings of her career on Friday and helped host Barrington's softball team earn its 21st Mid-Suburban League divisional crown, and 17th under hall of fame coach Perry Peterson.

Stoettner improved to 8-0 as the Fillies posted a 12-2 MSL West win over Fremd in five innings at the Fields of Dreams.

While pitching to the first batter of the fourth inning, Princeton-bound ace Allie Goodwin (15-4) took a line drive off her leg, suffering a bad bruise which put her in the dugout after she had given up just 1 hit (a homer to Hailey Lucas) on the mound and belted 2 home runs herself.

So Peterson called upon backup pitcher Stoettner and all the right-hander did was get out of two bases-loaded jams and give up just 1 more run the rest of the game.

"I love the pressure," Stoettner said. "It was such a fun position to be thrown into and Fremd is obviously a big Barrington rival. It was just an amazing game to play in. I did not plan to go in that way but I'm glad Allie will be just fine. It was a bit nerve-wracking but I couldn't be happier with the outcome."

Barrington stands at 25-4 and 15-0, shooting for its seventh undefeated MSL season on Monday against Palatine.

After home runs by Goodwin and Hailey Lucas (2-for-3), the score was tied at 1-1 after two innings.

The Fillies took command for good with 3 runs in the bottom of the third

That's when Goodwin led off with her second home run of the day and 40th of her career, taking the first pitch over the left center field fence.

Back-to-back singles by Emma Kavanagh (2-for-3) and Ainsley Muno and a one-out infield single by Reese Cullen (2-for-4) gave the Fillies the bases loaded. Two batters later, Gabby Phillis ripped a 2-run single to left to make it 4-1.

Barrington added 3 more runs in the fourth, taking advantage of 3 errors. Mimi Cline, Hannah Fors and Kavanagh all crossed the plate, with Kavanagh scoring the third run on Cullen's two-out single to center for a 7-1 cushion.

Fremd scored in the fifth when Sydney Sheedy was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Chiara D'Antonio (2-for-3) came home making it 7-2.

The hosts wrapped up the game with 5 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Nikki Vojack started the rally with a one-out double to right center. A two-out RBI single by Muno and Lexi Thomas' bases-loaded double off the left field wall made it 11-2. The game ended when Cullen reached on an error and Thomas scored from second.

"We had been playing stronger defensively the last few weeks," said Fremd coach Josh Teschner whose team is 18-7 and 12-3. "When you give a team like that extra outs (5 errors), it's going to be very difficult not only to stay in the game but to be competitive and that's what happened in the end.

"We left eight runners on base. The last few weeks we've been coming up in those spots and hitting the ball hard. Instead, I think things got in our heads and you get caught up in the moment against a great program. Unfortunately, that's what happened today."

Lucas' homer was her 12th of the season leaving her four behind Jess Maziur single season program record of 16.

Goodwin now has 8 homers this season,

"Just a bad bruise," Goodwin said of her injury. "It's going to be hard to move but I'll get through it and I should be ready for upcoming games."

"I thought our resiliency today was terrific," Peterson said. "Life is not always fair. When one player goes down, another needs to step up." We witnessed that today with Emily.

"If we can continue to compete in the batter's box with the entire lineup from one to nine, we have a chance to finish our season on a successful note."