After conceding the lead in the top half of the inning, and with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, the decision to send Barrington’s best stolen base threat was an easy one according to Barrington’s coach Perry Peterson.
“Colleen Shandley is the all-time stolen base-leader in Barrington’s 42 years of softball history,” Peterson said of his leadoff hitter who eventually scored the tying run. “We have a good one there; she can really run the bases, and she steals well.”
Lakes, who had fought back from a 3-1 deficit by putting a crooked number on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, took a 4-3 lead into the bottom half of the sixth thanks to an untimely and costly Barrington error which allowed the lead run to score. The Fillies were now on the ropes and looked to be in the peculiar spot off losing their second consecutive game this week (Barrington lost to Trinity).
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As things were looking bleak for the Fillies (7-3), since the eighth and ninth spot recorded quick outs to start the bottom of the sixth, it left Shandley to have to start the late rally for the comeback win. Getting on via a hit, it wouldn’t be long before Shandley added another stolen base to her career totals taking off for second almost immediately.
“With two outs we needed to initiate something to get that run back,” Peterson said of the necessary call to steal the bag.
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Ending up on third, Shandley was knocked in by a clutch hit from junior infielder Kelsey Kazmier that would tie the game at four. But the aggressive play calling didn’t stop there because moments later the Fillies would have a timely hit and run play that was executed to perfection. With Kazmier off and running, she would easily score the eventual winning run off of sophomore Loren Krzysko’s double down the third base line that would give Barrington a 5-4 lead heading into the top of the seventh.
“We had some timely hitting,” the Fillies coach said. “And to the team’s credit, we had worked on similar scenarios in practice.”
According to Peterson, hitting with runners in scoring position has been a renewed focus at practice since Barrington’s loss to Trinity. The Fillies, averaging more than eight runs a game, was an abysmal 2-14 with runners in scoring position and are now looking to work a bit more extensively on that facet of the game.
“We are trying to improve on all three aspects of the game: pitching, defense and timely hitting,” Peterson said. “Hopefully this is something we can build on as we try to create our identity as a team.”
And it was a good thing that Barrington’s focus has been on all three because there would be no smooth sailing against Lakes. Lakes would attempt their own rally during the top of the seventh and managed to get back-to-back hits putting runners on first and second.
Despite Barrington’s Kiley Dolezal continuously throwing big pitch after big pitch, Lakes kept finding open field. The Fillies dodged a big bullet when uncharacteristic shaky defense bungled a rundown with the Lake’s runner that fortunately was unable to score on the miscue. Good solid pitching from senior Dolezal bailed out the Fillies by inducing a groundout to Kiersten Tinkoff at first base that secured the 5-4 win.
“We had an error that allowed for an extra run and then we botched the rundown but these are some fundamentals we can work on,” Peterson said of some of the issues he spoke with his team about during a long post game talk. “Kids need to learn when they win, as well as when they lose; if there is a teachable moment, it is important to learn from it right away.”
The Fillies will be taking that newly instilled knowledge back to the field on Monday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m. Barrington will be hoping to continue their winning ways by traveling to conference crossover rival Buffalo Grove.
