The Barrington High School baseball team scored five runs in the first inning, two more in the second, and rolled to a 13-3 win over Middletown on Friday afternoon, April 22.

Junior pitcher Harrison Cooley picked up the win on the mound, throwing six innings in the mercy-run-shortened contest. Meanwhile, senior catcher Drew Lapointe crushed two triples to pace the Eagles’ offense.

“Mostly I’m trying to go ‘oppo,’ just take it opposite field, into left-center,” Lapointe said. “I’m trying to keep it simple, easy approach. I got fed inside today, so I had to work with what I had. I just turned on them.”

Lapointe, a left-handed batter, hit his triples — one in the third inning and another in the sixth — deep into right field. 

“This was a great bounce back from our last game against LaSalle,” Lapointe said, referring to Barrington’s 5-1 loss to the Rams early last week. “I think we really needed this, just to get our spirits back up.”

The Eagles opened the game with five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Gabe Tanous led off with a triple down the right field line, and Quinn Murphy skied a pop-fly to second base that the Islanders mishandled. The error allowed Tanous to score and Murphy to reach base. Ned Shapiro drew a walk and JC Neimeyer belted a grounder to the left side of the infield but a Middletown fielder sailed his throw over the first baseman’s head. That error, the second of four that inning for the Islanders, allowed Murphy and Shapiro to score. 

Leading 3-0 with one out, Andy Fletcher hit a grounder to shortstop but another bad throw yielded another run for the Eagles. Celico reached base on the Islanders’ fourth error, and Eli Terrell hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Neimeyer. 

Barrington’s 5-0 lead in the first expanded to 7-0 in the second. The scoring was fueled, in part, by Murphy who drilled a single to right that bounced through the right-fielder’s legs. The Eagles sophomore reached third and scored a short time later.  

Lapointe pounded his first triple of the day in the bottom of the third inning and scored when Middletown mis-handled a grounder by Tanous. The run gave Barrington a commanding 8-0 lead.

Meanwhile, Cooley was cruising through the Islanders’ lineup. Cooley and the Eagles defense held Middletown scoreless through the first four innings. 

“I kept getting first pitch strike, which is really helpful,” Cooley said. “That’s what I need.”

Barrington Coach Vin Scandura agreed.

“He’s done a great job,” Scandura said. “He throws strikes. I think if we can continue to throw strikes we’re going to be in games because we make plays. That’s the key for us. We’ve lost games where we’ve walked six, seven, eight guys. Hit by batters. Today we pounded the zone and we made plays. We can play our game because we put the ball in play, we move runners. We’re better when we can be aggressive offensively. And when we can play from a lead, it makes us so much better.”

Barrington led 10-3 after five innings and in the bottom of the sixth, the Eagles scored three more runs to force the mercy-rule. Leo Caldarella led off with a walk and scored two batters later when Eli Terrell ripped a triple down the right field line. The next batter, Lapointe, matched Terrell with another triple into right.

Tanous’s single scored Lapointe and ended the game.

Scandura said he continues to be impressed with Lapointe’s at-bats.

“He’s right out of that nine hole, they’re throwing fastballs to him, so I just have a hard time taking him out of there because he’s driving that ball,” Scandura said. “I’m contemplating moving him up. It’s just crazy the power he has. He hits the ball hard.”

Scandura also praised Lapointe’s work with Barrington’s pitchers.

“He’s a great leader out there. He’s a senior. He’s almost like a quarterback. He calls his own pitches. I don’t even call the pitches. He’s that smart. He’s got a great IQ for the game,” Scandura said. “He’s got a good relationship (with Harrison), and he actually does a good job knowing what’s working for the pitchers. And he actually does a good job charting what they do. So he figures out what they can do. He’s just a tremendous player.”

Barrington takes game 2

The Eagles defeated Middletown 7-6 in the second game of the series, played Monday in Middletown.

Barrington opened a 3-1 lead, but the Islanders battled back and took a 6-5 advantage into the seventh inning. In the top of the seventh Barrington scored twice. The go-ahead run came when Matt Davis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. 

Davis finished the game with two hits and two RBI, while Cooley went 3-for-3. Shapiro started on the mound for Barrington and Davis came in for relief in the sixth. Shapiro struck out six while Davis struck out four Middletown hitters. 

The win improved Barrington’s record to 5-3 in Division I standings.