Softball: No. 2 Palatine knocks off No. 1 Barrington
Softball fans got shortchanged when the Daily Herald's No. l and 2 ranked teams met on Monday in Palatine.
But they did get their money's worth with some drama in the five innings that made it a complete game before weather and darkness halted the action.
The No. 2 Pirates were able to cash in on 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth that broke a 4-4 tie for a 6-4 win over Barrington, the defending Mid-Suburban League champions who were ranked No. 1.
The Pirates (14-1, 6-0) won their 14th straight game getting a 3-hitter from junior left-hander Rhiann Dick, who is now 11-1.
"Rhiann threw really well," said Pirates coach Nicole Capalbo, whose club also defeated the Fillies in the Barrington supersectional last June. "She hit her spots and our defense was outstanding."
The defense was without regular first baseman and cleanup hitter Amanda Stanczuk (illness),
"We had some adversity there," Capalbo said. "I think the girls just focused on taking advantage of what they gave us and scoring when we could. We knew we had to score early with the weather coming in."
The Pirates broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with 4 runs, all after two were out.
Emily Brinckerhoff reached on an error and it resulted in 2 runs crossing the plate.
"When they intentionally walked Rhiann ahead of me, I knew I had to get those runs in," Brinckerhoff said. " I just went up with a clear head and hit the ball hard."
Chase Friel followed with an RBI triple to right and Anna Selleck added an RBI single to left.
"After Emily drove in those two runs to start the rally, I knew I had to help my team and keep the momentum going," Friel said. "I knew we would have to score more runs so I just went up to hit the ball and score my teammates."
"As a team, we didn't let the pressure get to us," Selleck said. "The energy from my teammates helped me in the box and I think it helped everyone in the order.
"I think our defense was really strong behind Rhiann today even though we were missing Amanda. We filled the gap very well and picked each other up."
Barrington (13-3, 4-1) quickly made it a new game by scoring 4 runs in the top of the fifth.
The rally started with back-to-back one-out singles by Ellie Wintringer and Caroline Huttinger.
The bases were loaded for Kendall Peterson after Katherine Stagnito was hit by a pitch.
Peterson came through with a sharp 2-run single to the outfield that allowed 3 runs to score due to an error.
Peterson then came home on Leyden Atlas' sacrifice fly to right.
Dick got out of the inning with a lineout to third baseman Kaitlyn Reed.
The Pirates then scored the 2 runs in the bottom of the inning and they proved to be the difference as the lightning detector went off after their third out.
Walks to Reed and Huff brought Emily Parrott to the plate with one out and the Pirates' veteran shortstop responded in clutch fashion. She belted a 2-run triple to right-center for the 6-4 advantage.
"The team did a great job getting on base," Parrott said. "I went up knowing my job was to score them. We played a great game as a team."
Barrington pitchers Jackie Albrecht (3⅔ innings) and Barbara Covek (1⅓ innings) combined for a 4-hitter.
It was the Fillies' first loss after 20 consecutive wins in Mid-Suburban League play dating back to a loss to Schaumburg to end the 2017 conference season.
Dick, who struck out the side in the second inning, finished with 8 strikeouts and no walks.
"Knowing this was a big game for us, we just wanted to go and have fun and play our own game," said Dick, a Wisconsin-Whitewater recruit. "We weren't going to let anything change our game. I think our offense and defense played well and it paid off against a good team."