Prep softball: Bella Jacobs, Sycamore beat Kaneland to reach sectional championship

SYCAMORE – When choosing a starting pitcher for Thursday’s Class 3A Sycamore Sectional semifinal against Kaneland, Sycamore coach Jill Carpenter said the Knights have seen Addison Dierschow for three years.

They only faced Bella Jacobs, however, for two innings this season.

The hunch paid off as Jacobs tossed six scoreless innings in the Spartans’ 6-0 win against Kaneland.

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Sycamore's Faith Heil slides in with a stolen base as Kaneland's Angelina Campise can’t corral the throw during their Class 3A sectional semifinal Thursday, May 30, 2024, at Sycamore High School. (Mark Busch)

“We thought Bella was ready for this moment and it was to our advantage to have two very, very strong pitchers,” Carpenter said. “She showed up and she did a wonderful job, then the offense came through for her which always makes the pitcher feel better.”

Top-seeded Sycamore (32-3) took two of three games against sixth-seeded Kaneland (12-14-1) this season. The Spartans lost 3-0 the first time they faced the Knights and starter Brynn Woods won 10-1 and Woods only pitched two innings.

Thursday, the Spartans got singles from Addie McLaughlin and Addi Armstrong to start the game. McLaughlin stole second and advanced on two wild pitches before Armstrong could even finish her at-bat, then Armstrong scored on an error for an early 2-0 lead.

“I could feel the energy shift right after that,” Kaneland coach Madison Mikos said. “But the girls still battled, it was still a great game.”

Those two runs were enough for Jacobs, who allowed four hits in six innings before Addison Dierschow pitched a scoreless seventh. Jacobs struck out four and walked two. Kaneland didn’t get a runner past second all game.

“I think we were all extremely nervous, but we all came into this knowing we’re a good program, and we played Kaneland before,” Jacobs said. “Our first game was kind of rough but we came into this knowing we didn’t want our season to be over this soon. So we all worked together to take it home.”

After the error in the first inning, Woods retired seven in a row until Faith Heil led off the fourth with a single. She scored on a pinch-hit single by Ema Durst, who stayed in the game and drove in Kait Williams as part of a two-run sixth that put Sycamore ahead 5-0.

“Ema Durst is a gamer, and she’s been able to put the ball in play off some pretty elite pitching,” Carpenter said. “That is what we base decisions on. Who do we think has the best chance to put the ball in play? They may do it, they may not, but we’re going off 34 games of data ... and sometimes you pull the right strings and sometimes you don’t. And so we’re really happy that Emma was ready.”

Williams homered in the top of the seventh for the Spartans, who lost a coin flip and were the road team.

Mikos said she liked the way Woods pitched. She allowed nine hits and struck out eight.

“This is a like a game of cat and mouse, both being the pitcher and then being the offense on the other side,” Carpenter said. “We were gearing up for mostly away, and then they made a good adjustment and started throwing more inside. But at the end of the day, pitchers go to where they’re comfortable, and I think we’re no different. Pitchers have their strengths, she’s going to throw to her strengths. Her changeup is great and we did a great job fouling off a lot of them.”

The Knights had two on with two outs in the fourth and sixth innings but could not get a key hit when they needed it.

“We’ve got to put the bat on the ball,” Mikos said. “We’ve got to string hits together. We’ve been saying that all season and it kind of showed true here. We had base runners on, we just couldn’t string enough together to finish.”

The Knights not only won their regional by beating two teams seeded ahead of them, they tied for second in the Interstate 8 and still are the only Class 3A team to beat Sycamore this season.

“This group was amazing,” Mikos said. “They’re a great group of kids. We were really senior heavy, so it will be real interesting next year. But overall they’re a great group of kids and I wouldn’t trade them. They’re awesome. They keep the energy up. They knew Sycamore was going to be loud and knew they had to bring the energy here.”

McLaughlin had a pair of hits and scored for the Spartans. Heil had two hits and scored twice while Williams had two hits, two runs and an RBI. Durst finished 2 for 2 with two RBIs.

The Spartans will face Prairie Ridge for the sectional crown Friday, one of only two sectionals in Class 3A to have to No. 1 seeds facing each other. The winner will advance to the Kaneland Supersectional against either Antioch or Lakes.

“We’re a really good team, and we really don’t want to be done anytime soon,” Jacobs said. “We really hope to take it home tomorrow. We’re going to keep the same energy we had today.”