Sycamore Sycos 16U team captures Storm Dayz title

SYCAMORE – After a couple of years competing at Storm Dayz, the Sycamore Sycos 16U team finally got to hoist a trophy in their hometown.

The Sycos got a strong pitching performance from Bella Jacobs and rolled to a 6-1 win against the Thunder Premier on Sunday to win the Storm Dayz 16U bracket.

“We’ve never won one here, so just with it being our hometown it feels really good,” catcher Riley Schuller said. “We have a lot of people going out, so it’s really good as, maybe not a final tournament for us, but it feels really good to win as a team as a whole. I’ve been with this team for two years, and we finally won a tournament here.”

The Kishwaukee Valley Storm travel program hosts the annual tournament, with this year the 24th annual edition.

Rain wiped out the entire first day of the tournament Friday, forcing a change in the format for all four age groups.

The Sycos went 6-0 on Saturday and Sunday, capped with the win over the Thunder.

“This is probably the favorite team I’ve ever been on,” Jacobs said. “I love everyone on my team, I love my coaches. It’s great to know what we can accomplish together.”

Jacobs went the distance in the six-inning game, striking out 10 and scattering five hits. She allowed one unearned run.

The Thunder, based out of Arlington Heights, were threatening in the top of the sixth with an error and a double to the fence in center plating a run.

But a quick timeout called by coach Ryan Knox and a mound conference later, and the Sycos escaped the jam without allowing another run.

“I think it’s good to call time as a team,” Jacobs said. “We all come in the circle, try to take our minds off of it. We all mess around with each other. It helps us stay not stressed. It’s always unstressful when my team is taking me away from the game.”

The Sycos scored two in the bottom of the first, capitalizing on two walks and a hit by pitch. Dagney Greer has the only hit of the inning, a single that scored Lydia Steinbach.

Greer was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the third to push the lead to 4-0, then Lily Provost scored on a passed ball.

Provost, who had been courtesy running earlier in the game, got a sacrifice fly in her first at-bat in the bottom of the fifth that scored Camara Neal to push the lead to 6-0.

It was a good cushion in the sixth for the Sycos to weather the Thunder rally.

“It’s still hard to know that if you don’t pitch strikes or leave it over the middle or miss your spots, there’s a chance they can come back,” Jacobs said. “It’s good to know I have my defense behind me.”

Heading into the tournament, Schuller said the team was focused on putting up runs. Jacobs said the Sycos were very confident after a strong showing at its last tournament, and the offense, despite only three hits in the championship game, clicked throughout Storm Dayz.

The Sycos won 17-4 in the semifinals and scored at least eight runs in their first five games.

“We know we had to deal and work hard with our hitting,” Schuller said. “Obviously that’s how you score runs. And we really had to make sure we were working together as a team when making plays for our pitcher.”

18U Division

The Kishwaukee Valley Storm 18U team reached the quarterfinals but fell 6-4 to Stingrays. Keera Trautvetter and Alyssa Pollnow each had two hits in the loss.

14U Division

No local team made the semifinal round of the winners’ bracket, but the Kishwaukee Valley Storm made the consolation final, falling 8-4 to Stateline Fury White.

12U Division

The Sycos NP team made the longest run along the championship bracket, reaching the semifinal and falling to eventual champ Genuwin Reign 15-2.