PEORIA — Before the weekend, senior second baseman Marie Baranowski had played many games during summer tournaments on the fields at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex.
But she never played here in a Lockport uniform. And she never played on the main stadium field.
Check that one off her wish list.
“It was a really cool experience walking in there on Friday,” Baranowski said. “Seeing all of the people there to support you was very exciting. The energy was awesome.”
The Wisconsin-Parkside commit came up big Saturday afternoon for the Porters in a 6-5 loss to Oak Park-River Forest in the Class 4A third-place game.
Taylor Lane and Sophia Hutera each had two hits apiece for Lockport (31-11), which brought home the program’s first trophy since winning the Class AA state title in 2004.
Baranowski reached base twice and drove in two runs and Addie Way reached twice as well. Colgate recruit Kelcie McGraw struck out seven, while Bridget Faut struck out five in relief.
Baranowski’s RBI single in the bottom of the fifth inning put the Porters in front 5-2. But then Oak Park-River Forest (30-9) rallied for four runs in the top of the sixth.
The Huskies denied Lockport a win, but it was a small blemish on a great season.
“This season has meant so much to me, especially the girls,” Baranowski said. “I’ve never been on a team with this much energy, with this much bond. We all love each other. And the most important part to me was that it has been fun. Every game was fun.
“I’m proud of each and every one of us. We were the underdogs this season and we worked so hard to get here. We battled through some really hard games.”
Among them was a marathon sectional championship game against Lincoln-Way Central and Florida State recruit Lisabella Dimitrijevic. The Porters scored twice in the 10th to win 2-0.
Baranowski started the winning rally with a single. Talk about a good feeling.
“I’ve always wanted to beat Central,” Baranowski said, laughing. “And we did it. And then we got here. I was so happy to have had this opportunity.
“I’ve worked hard for all of this, and I’m really grateful for all the opportunities that coach (Marissa) Chovanec has given me.”
Baranowski has finished her second full season on the varsity. She started her first one as a reserve.
“I wasn’t disappointed,” Baranowski said. “I knew I had to work for a spot. But every day at practice, I worked as hard as I possibly could.”
The situation changed early and dramatically when an injury resulted in classmate Mikayla Cvitanovich being moved to shortstop. Chovanec put Baranowski in at second base.
She responded by hitting .309. Over the past two seasons, Baranowski made just four errors.
“Marie has really handled that side of the field for us last season and all of this one,” Chovanec said. “She just is a great, bubbly kid. Her energy is infectious.”
And the jokes …
“She has a really funny personality,” Way said. “Her jokes make everybody on our team laugh. She’s probably the most upbeat person on our team in general. And her laugh is contagious.”
But it wasn’t just fun and laughs that impressed Way.
“When I was on JV my freshman year with Marie, she was always super nice to me,” Way said. “And you could tell last year she really wanted to work really hard to get that time to play.
“The difference between her sophomore year to now is crazy. I give her a lot of credit. She deserves every bit of it.”
Tony Baranek is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.