The place and circumstances for longtime Barrington High School softball coach Perry Peterson's latest achievement seemed quite fitting.
On the Field of Dreams at Barrington High, Peterson posted his 800th career victory in the Fillies 8-1 victory over Mid-Suburban West rivals Schaumburg, raising their record to 21-2 and running their conference win streak to 11 straight.
Now in his 27th season, all but one of them at Barrington, Peterson raised his career record to 800-186.
After the Schaumburg win, a reflective Petersen paid homage to all those he counts as having been a part of helping him to make history.
"In the beginning, I was just trying to have one successful season," Peterson told the Daily Herald. "It's been a fun ride, a great ride. We have a lot of people to thank in this town -- great families, amazing administration and dedicated assistant coaches. We've got more than 100 combined years of coaching Barrington softball on our current staff."
Fillies catcher Abbey Jacobsen, who was also around for Peterson’s No. 700, drove in two runs with a first-inning single and, like so many times before, the Fillies never looked back.
"It's really cool that we got to reach No. 800 with this group of girls who he has known, forever,” she told The Herald. "I just think his success is how he runs practices and how we have to push ourselves to work hard at practice. That makes the games a lot easier. We are able to come together as one and we just succeed."
Jenna Patino and Rachel Mori also had a pair of hits for the Filles, while starter Caroline Hoppe didn’t allow a hit over the first four-plus innings.
The win left Peterson as the third-winningest coach in Illinois High School Association history and with at least 20 wins for 26 straight seasons.