Prep softball: Kaitlyn Williams, Sycamore bats stay hot in win over Genoa-Kingston

SYCAMORE – For the sixth game in a row, the Sycamore softball team has put up at least 12 runs.

Against Genoa-Kingston on Friday, the Spartans jumped in right from the start, scoring five in the first inning, en route to a 13-3 win over the Cogs in five innings.

“Putting up a crooked number in the beginning helps everybody relax a little,” Sycamore coach Jill Carpenter said. “The offense showing up and doing what needed to be done today by a bunch of different people is what we’ve rode on all season long.”

Eight of the nine starters for Sycamore (21-2) had a hit Friday. After Addison Dierscho pitched a perfect first inning, Addie McLaughlin launched a ball off the fence in right-center to kick off the Sycamore offense in the bottom of the first.

Kaitlyn Williams drove her in on a single, the first of three RBI hits for the first baseman in the contest. Keera Trautvetter capped the first-inning scoring with a two-out, two-run double.

The win was the sixth in a row, all with the team reaching double-digit run totals. Sycamore’s last loss was April 22 to rival Kaneland 3-0. It was the second loss in a row for the Spartans, who fell 8-7 to McHenry two days earlier in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader.

Kaneland and Sycamore are scheduled to finish their regular-season series Wednesday in Maple Park.

“I think it kind of humbled us a little bit and lit a fire under out butts a little bit,” said Williams of the loss to the Knights. “We obviously want to beat them again, and they’re going to be coming back wanting a win.”

Genoa-Kingston (15-9) scored twice in the second. Arielle Rich, Faith Thompson and Lily Provost singled to load the bases, then Reagan Tomlinson drew a bases-loaded walk, the only walk of the game issued by Dierschow in three innings of work.

After Sycamore scored in the bottom of the second, Lizzie Davis hit a home run down the line in right field to cut the Spartans’ lead to 6-3.

“I think we played well against them,” Swan said. “I don’t have anything negative to say. I think the girls played hard. They were just hitting it hard to where we weren’t. We made the plays that we could make.”

Dierschow retired the last batter she faced, then Brighton Snodgrass retired all six she faced, striking out three. Williams added a two-run double in the third, part of a three-run inning that pushed the Sycamore lead to 9-3.

In relief, Provost didn’t allow a run in the bottom of the fourth, but the Spartans scored four times in the fifth to secure the run-rule win. Ellison Hallahan hit a two-run double to push the Sycamore lead to nine, then Snodgrass walked it off with a single that scored Faith Heil.

The Cogs, a Class 2A school, close the regular season with three Big Northern Conference games, including a Stillman Valley team that’s 12-1 in conference and a possible regional final opponent for the Cogs.

“I think the energy we had against them was awesome to see,” Swan said. “If we take that energy into our final three conference games and into the postseason, then we’ve got a great shot.”

Williams had three hits and four RBIs in the win, while McLaughlin, Heil, Hallahan and Keera Trautvetter had two hits each. Trautvetter scored twice and drove in two.

Williams said after the Kaneland loss the team hit the auxiliary gym for some extra batting practice that has really paid off. Carpenter said the focus of the extra practice was more on approach and strategy than mechanics.

“A game like that will humble you a little bit,” Carpenter said. “We did spend a couple days inside working on stuff offensively.”