Softball notes: Newark’s Ryan Williams, after two ACL surgeries, back and better than ever

Ryan Williams said it’s nice to have both legs under her this spring.

The Newark senior doesn’t take health lightly.

Williams, the Norsemen’s shortstop, played her entire junior season and travel schedule last summer with a torn ACL in her left knee she injured in January 2023. From playing on it, she tore her meniscus, too.

That is after Williams tore the ACL in her right knee the summer after eighth grade, when she was 14.

“I’m more symmetrical now, I guess,” Williams said.

A marvel of an athlete who can apparently play through pain, Williams is also one heck of a softball player, one of the best around. A quick returner after August 2023 surgery on the left knee, Williams looks better than ever.

Through 22 games, she’s batting a borderline ridiculous .625 with nine doubles, two triples, six homers and 40 RBIs for a 19-3 Newark team putting up over 10 runs per game. First-year Newark coach Jon Wood, who also coaches Williams in travel, thought with the injury she’d maybe just play third base this spring.

But shortstop she’s played, and dazzled. On Wednesday against Serena, Wiliams made a diving throw and flip to the second baseman that had Wood scrambling to find it on video.

“It was an Oklahoma-type D-1 play that breathed life into the game,” he said. “She has the ability to spark a team, both offensively and defensively.”

She’s done it all four years at Newark, a starter on the 2022 Class 1A state team. Running, more so throwing and changing directions, was the hardest part of playing with a torn ACL – “If I stepped a little wrong, it would give out,” she said – but she played in a crazy amount of pain pretty much every game. And hasn’t looked back.

“I felt like we had a good enough team to go to state,” she said. “It was balancing pain from the current injury and overuse of the other knee. It was difficult, but I don’t regret it.”

Williams was hitting two and a half or three months out from the most recent surgery, taking ground balls on a bucket, anything she could do to get ready. She wasn’t able to walk for two weeks after surgery, but having a mom who is a physical therapist helped her get back before she was supposed to.

“My parents and God, I owe it all to them,” Williams said. “They both played baseball and softball in college. They know the ins and outs of the game. My dad is my hitting and fielding coach, my mom is the physical therapist. Having them at home is huge.”

Williams is a huge reason why Newark is poised for another deep run in the Class 1A playoffs that start in two weeks. A rubber meeting with Serena could happen in a sectional final.

“She is the real deal, triple threat,” Wood said. “She is willing to do whatever it takes.”

Next for Williams after this year is college at Lincoln Memorial University. A lover of animals – Williams started riding horses at 2 years old and did rodeos – she plans to pursue a degree in medicine for a career as a veterinarian.

And the future doctor is ready for a good dose of health going forward.

“That’s the plan, really hoping college is easier,” Williams said. “I do catch myself wondering where I would be skills-wise without all these injuries. But I’m a religious person and thinking about it, everything happens for a reason. I wouldn’t be the player or person I am now.”

Oswego doing it all during win streak

Oswego (16-7) has been piling up the runs this season, averaging nearly eight per game with 10 or more runs in eight of its 16 wins.

But another area has helped key a six-game winning streak.

“I think most of it has been the defense,” Oswego coach Paul Netzel said. “The defense is playing well, the pitchers are pitching well, and it is making it easier on the defense. The other teams have been scoring runs early, but we come back with some big games.

“The girls are relaxed and playing well.”

The best win during the current stretch may have been a 2-0 victory over Joliet West, a game in which Oswego sophomore Jaelynn Anthony threw a two-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

“She has been pitching well the last few weeks, and [Aubriella] Garza has been pitching well, and the offense has been there,” Netzel said.

Nobody is having a better year for that offense than junior catcher Kiyah Chavez. The Iowa recruit through 23 games is batting .514 with 10 homers, eight doubles and 28 runs batted in. Oswego as a team has 32 homers through 23 games – Anthony accounting for nine and Garza seven.

“Chavez was injured at the end of last year, and she was having a good year. I think that was the key reason we went downhill toward the end of last season,” Netzel said. “She does a great job of handling pitchers and is having a great year. I think once she committed to Iowa, that took all the pressure off of her. She had a good season wrestling and is having a nice run.”

‘J-Money’ is money for Yorkville

Yorkville senior first baseman Jensen Krantz is called “J-Money” by her teammates – a nickname well-earned.

As a junior, Krantz had perhaps the biggest hit in program history, a walk-off single in the bottom of the 13th of last year’s Class 4A state semifinal.

Krantz, a Purdue recruit, has carried it right into this season. One of just two starters back from the state runners-up, Krantz is batting .493. Yorkville coach Jory Regnier recently moved Krantz to the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

“She has such a good eye, and she is our only lefty, so she gives us a different look at the beginning of the lineup,” Regnier said. “She gets up more frequently, so it’s helpful for us to have her there. She can get a base hit or a double, can slap and bunt. She’s tall and strong, looks like a power hitter, has the height and power to hit.

“She is a triple threat.”

And a rock at first base for a young infield.

“First base defensively can fly under the radar – it’s not like a pitcher or a catcher,” Regnier said, “but she is such a huge part of our success. It’s rare that a ball gets thrown off that she can’t handle.”

Oswego East’s Ryenne Sinta does RISPs

When Oswego East Ryenne Sinta came to the plate in a scoreless tie with Plainfield Central on Wednesday, she roped a two-run hit into the gap in left-center, sparking the Wolves’ 7-6 win.

Nothing new there.

Sinta, a junior catcher, is hitting a solid .377 with 23 hits and 17 RBIs in her first season as Oswego East’s starting catcher. That average climbs to .400 with runners in scoring position.

“She has been really consistent with the bat, especially with runners on,” Oswego East coach Sarah Davies said. “She kind of fluctuates in that 4-5-6 spot in the lineup, that power position.”

Sinta played a little bit of catcher and a little bit of second base last season on varsity, but really didn’t get much playing time. She’s settled in quite well behind the plate this spring.

“I don’t call pitches for the catchers, and she has learned so much this season being put in that No. 1 catcher spot. She has worked real well with [pitcher] Nicole [Stone],” Davies said. “Her knowledge of the game and the types of pitches has grown. She calls a great game, that’s the most important thing to me. We put that trust in her.”