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Sports

OPRF Softball Gains Revenge Against Fenwick

After losing to Friars during regular season, Huskies beat them 2-0 in the Class 4A regional semifinals.

Oak Park-River Forest senior Erin Flanagan had one thought when she came to the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh of a scoreless game.

“No way this is my last game,” she told herself.

Flanagan singled into center field to score Becky Barron from second base and then scored on Maureen Puccetti’s double. That was all the offense that the Huskies and pitcher Sarafina Andreoli needed to edge Fenwick 2-0 in the Class 4A OPRF regional semifinals Friday afternoon.

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It was a welcomed feel-good moment for the Huskies (11-21), who are experiencing their first sub-.500 season in coach Mel Kolbusz’s 19 seasons.

“It’s awesome,” Flanagan said of winning the big game, which was postponed for two days by rain. “We lost to them the last time we played them. We’re such big rivals. We had to get it done this time.”

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Fenwick (15-18)

Andreoli pitched that game, too, surrendering all four runs on nine hits while striking out three. This time, the junior allowed seven hits and tied her season-high for strikeouts with 10.

“The difference today is we chased her riseball,” Friars coach Jen Butler said. “We couldn’t lay off of it. The first game we laid off of it and we were able to get the pitches that we wanted in our zone, and we didn’t work our zone today. When you do that you kind of really empower a pitcher. It makes it tough when you’re down 0-1, 1-2. We were down in the count a lot today.”

Andreoli received outstanding defensive support. In the bottom of the fifth, center fielder Emily Bacalao threw out Jenna Cairo trying to score from second on Ashley Parenti’s two-out single with a one-hop throw to catcher Annie Ford.

“Perfect,” Kolbusz said of the throw.

“Once that ball came off her bat I thought it was a run,” Andreoli said, “but (Bacalao) got a good jump on it and (Ford) blocked it perfectly at home. That was the highlight of my season, probably.”

Barron started the game on the bench, but she wound up playing a starring role after staying in the game following a pinch-running appearance in the fifth inning. The senior ignited 10th-seeded OPRF in the seventh when she singled with one out and stole second with two outs, setting the stage for Flanagan’s go-ahead hit.

“Coach always says when you get an opportunity you have to make something out of it,” Barron said. “So that’s what I try to think of whenever I’m put in. We’ve been pumped the whole week to play them. It’s sort of a nice rebuttal, especially in the playoffs when it really matters.”

The defensive contributions continued for OPRF in the bottom of the seventh. With a runner on first and one out, Flanagan caught a short fly ball in right field with a tumbling dive. She didn’t think she had a chance at it when it left the bat.

“Right when it was hit I was thinking first would maybe get it or second because I was playing really far back,” Flanagan said. “But I just ran faster and faster, dove and there it was in my mitt.”

Kerry Lange took the tough loss for No. 7 seed Fenwick. The senior scattered 11 hits while striking out four and not issuing a walk.

“Kerry pitched such a great game today,” Butler said.

OPRF has won four in a row. The Huskies take on second-seeded Mother McAuley at 11 a.m. Saturday in the regional final.

“We’re playing better at the right time of the year,” Kolbusz said. “Now tomorrow we get McAuley. They’re really, really good. We’ll see what happens. Anything could happen.”

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