THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30, 2008
Barrington Outlasts Elk Grove, 7-4
By BOBBY CHILVER
Journal Reporter
Elk Grove had perennial softball power Barrington right where they wanted them Thursday.
The Grens led 4-3 in the bottom of the seventh, had two out and two strikes on the Fillies' final hope, senior Lisa Shandley.
"I was just determined," Shandley said. "I set my mind to do my best to get Lindsey (Dulla) home."
Dulla had singled and stolen second to put the tying run in scoring position. And sure enough, on a 1-2 pitch from Gren ace Stephanie Maday, Shandley connected on a game-tying double to left that opened the floodgates for a 7-4 Barrington win.
"I knew it as soon as is hit the bat," Shandley said of the clutch hit.
That hit kept the inning alive and after a Devinne Wapotish single, Michal Jane Maropis ended any chance of extra innings with a 2-run double over the right-fielder's head.
Kim Cygan followed with another RBI single and the Fillies had posted a four spot in the seventh to take control, all with two outs.
Elk Grove got a single from Jamie Campus in the bottom of the inning but that was all the Grens could muster as they fell to 18-2 on the season and suffered their first loss in the Mid-Suburban League.
"We've been playing well but we played on back of our heels a bit today," Gren coach Ken Grams said. "We made some mistakes we haven't been and we weren't as aggressive both at the plate and certainly on defense."
Barrington improved to 17-2 overall and 8-1 in the MSL, having lost to Prospect earlier this month.
The Grens should have no reason to hang their heads as they battled tough against the five-time defending MSL champions.
Barrington put two on the board in the first inning, one on a Wapotish solo home run, but Elk Grove answered right back with two of their own. Nikki Goranson knocked in Jessica Balzano, who had doubled, with an RBI single and Amanda Mertes later scored on a Kayla Mahoney sacrifice fly.
After a 20-minute lightning delay both pitchers got into a groove as Maday and Barrington's Cygan cruised through the next three innings.
The fifth is where things started to get interesting. Barrington took a brief lead in the top of the inning on an error but Elk Grove would answer right back, using a little bit of trickery.
Amber Hane and Campus each singled to put the go ahead run on base. Amanda Mertes then hit a grounder to the shortstop, who overthrew her first baseman, allowing one run to score. However, Mertes pulled the old walk-off play, purposely walking off first to draw the defense's attention.
Barrington threw to second to get Mertes, which allowed Campus to dart home from third and score on the play, giving the Grens their 4-3 lead.
"That was great coaching on Ken's (Grams) part," Barrington coach Perry Peterson said. "They made us lose our focus on what's important at the moment."
But Barrington would come through in the end, in most part due to their seniors as Shandley, Wapotish, Maropis and Cygan are all in their fourth year.
"The seniors came up huge today when we needed it," Peterson said.
All hope is not lost for Elk Grove either. A MSL-East title would likely give them a rematch with Barrington squad in the MSL championship game next month.
"We'll learn from it," Grams said.
The Grens' chances of an MSL-East title also got much brighter the next day as second-place Prospect fell to Fremd, 3-2.
The loss puts the Knights two games behind Elk Grove. They'll have to hope for the Grens to slip up and then take advantage when the two teams play again on May 5. In Friday's game, Prospect ace Sheri Weidner struck out eight and walked none but the Vikings edged the Knights at the plate to take the win.
Elk Grove bounced back Saturday, defeating a good Lane Tech team, 6-4. The Grens trailed by four early but a 4-run fifth game them the lead for good. Jessica Balzano had two extra-base hits while Mahoney hit an RBI double and Olivia Roback a big RBI single for the Grens.
Prospect also responded with a 2-game sweep of Stevenson. Sheri Weidner earned the wins in both games and Cindy Becker went 2-for-3 in each as the Knights improved to 11-5 on the year with victories of 2-0 and 5-2.
In other weekend action:
On Friday, Buffalo Grove beat Conant 2-0 in five innings due to rain. Andrea DiPrimi had two hits while Emily Begnel struck out five Cougar batters.
Saturday, the Bison beat Loyola 4-3 to claim first place in their own 4-team invite. Katie Lee singled the game-winner home in the bottom of the 7th to cap a 3-run comeback win.
Rolling Meadows fell to Schaumburg, 7-1. The Saxons put up five runs in the first inning and never looked back in the victory.
Wheeling was shutout by Palatine in five innings. Pitcher Carly Speidel had a hit and struck out four on the mound.
But the Wildcats offense was on the next day as the swept a doubleheader of Maine East, 10-0 and 16-2.
Speidel struck out 12 in her complete game shutout of game one and also went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI at the plate. Tori Menelle earned the win in game two, giving up zero earned runs and striking out nine. Speidel was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate and Cheryl Bauer was 3-for-3.
Last Thursday, Hersey won its second straight game with a 1-0 triumph over Hoffman Estates. The Huskies improved to 3-6 in the MSL.