Less than six months ago, Tori Meyer underwent ACL surgery after suffering a knee injury while playing basketball at the Bison Classic at Buffalo Grove High School.

The determined Barrington senior, already committed to DePaul for softball, did everything she could to rehab and make it back for her final high school softball season.

She saw the fruits of her labor on Saturday in Palatine.

In her second game back, Meyer belted a 2-run homer over the left field fence and had a double to right as Barrington rolled past host Fremd 13-2 in five innings in the Mid-Suburban West.

Appropriately enough, Meyer’s longtime buddy and fellow Division I recruit Kendall Peterson (Northwestern) was on base for the comeback homer.

“She’s back better than ever,” said an elated Peterson. “I’m so proud of her. She is one of my very best friends.”

Peterson and Meyer have played together since the fifth grade when they were teammates on the Barrington Bandits travel team.

“I’ve seen her go through all the highs and lows, and today was such a high,” Peterson said. “I’m so happy for her. She is the best person and she deserves all of this.”

Peterson had a 2-run single two batters earlier and was on third base when Meyer’s blast gave the Fillies an 8-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning.

“When I was standing there and watching it, my emotions were so high,” Peterson said. “I was just jumping up and down. No one has known how hard she has battled and worked to get back to the field and it’s just a great success story if you ask me.”

And there’s a great story developing in the Mid-Suburban West.

The Fillies (19-3, 10-1) are one game behind Palatine (18-2, 11-0). The two teams are scheduled to meet in Barrington on Thursday.

Fremd (12-5, 9-2) is still in the chase, two games out of first place.

“Barrington is an excellent hitting team,” said Fremd coach Josh Teschner. “That’s been a hallmark of theirs, at least in my 15 years in this program. They will attack the ball. Early in the game, they did not have a strike where they didn’t make contact.”

Multiple hitters for the Fillies were Katherine Stagnito (2-for-3, 2B, RBI), Peterson (2-for-3, 4 RBI), Gina Magro (2-for-4, 2B, RBI), Caroline Huntinger (2-for-3, RBI) and Meyer, who was the only player in the game with 3 hits.

“It’s been a long six months,” Meyer (3-for-4, 3 RBI) said. “I couldn’t wait to get back on the field playing with all my friends. I’ve been working really hard to get back to normal. I just needed to get back in the swing of things. And my team did great today.”

Sophomore pitcher Jackie Albrecht (7-0) was great, tossing a 3-hitter with 3 strikeouts.

“Fremd is having a great season and we knew it would be a huge battle because they had never lost on this field (opened this spring),” said Barrington Perry Peterson. “We had a good day and we know it will be a new challenge when we play the next time.”

Teschner said his team needed to challenge Barrington earlier.

The Vikings didn’t get their first hits until singles by Kelsey Brauer and Cali DiVito (RBI) in the fourth inning. Their third hit was a single up the middle by Sophia Crescio (RBI) in the fifth inning.

“One of the things with this young group is that they take a lot of pride in playing with ‘no quit,’ ” said Teschner, who used Hailey Hazlett and Grace Hiller on the mound. “There is never a point in time where they are saying we are out of the game. They really want to keep scrapping and that is something this young group will carry into next week.”

The Fillies are thrilled having Meyer back in the fold.

“We’re excited,” Perry Peterson said. “She has paid her dues to come back and she is doing a terrific job with her rehab. That has allowed her to be on the field. We’ll look for big things from Tori as we finish up the season.

“Jackie pitched well. All three of our pitchers (Barbara Covek and Meyer) make a difference for us.”