Softball: Kane County Chronicle 2024 All-Area Team

Highlighted by two first-team all-staters in St. Charles East’s Hayden Sujack and St. Charles North’s Paige Murray, here is the 2024 Kane County Chronicle All-Area softball team:

First Team

Sam Gaca, St. Charles East, senior, catcher: The Maryville commit finished her senior season with All-Conference and Second team all-state honors by the Illinois Coaches Association after batting .348 (.425 on-base percentage) with 10 doubles, four home runs and 13 RBIs.

Grace Hautzinger, St. Charles East, senior, pitcher: The Rollins commit finished the season 16-7 in the circle with a 2.18 ERA and 240 strikeouts over 157 2/3 innings and held batters to a .184 batting average. She also earned Second-team all-state and All-Conference honors.

Ella Heimbuch, St. Charles North, freshman, utility: The freshman, who appeared at catcher, shortstop and the outfield during the season, finished batting .366, scored 21 runs, and had a team-leading eight doubles and 14 stolen bases on her way to All-Conference honors.

Maddie Hernandez, St. Charles North, senior, infielder: The Wisconsin-Stevens Point commit finished her senior season leading the team in hits (35), home runs (four), runs (35) and OPS (1.064). She batted .380 and drove in 14 runs and earned All-Conference and Second team all-state honors.

Katie Morgan, St. Charles East, senior, infielder: Morgan finished the season with a .371 batting average and .426 OBP with 11 doubles, a triple, three home runs and 23 RBIs. She also scored 21 runs and earned Third team all-state and All-Conference honors.

Paige Murray, St. Charles North, junior, pitcher: In her first year as the North Stars’ ace, Murray finished the season with a 19-5 record, 1.62 ERA and 229 strikeouts over 169 innings and held hitters to a .191 average. She earned First team all-state and All-Conference honors as well.

Mack Patterson, St. Charles North, junior, outfielder: Patterson batted .378 on the season with 34 hits, three doubles, a triple, three home runs and 20 RBIs. She also scored 27 runs and went 12/12 on stolen bases on her way to earning Second team all-state and All-Conference honors.

Anna Sanders, Burlington Central, senior, utility: Sanders put a spark in the Rockets offense, batting .435 (.500 OBP) with 47 hits, eight doubles, three triples, four home runs and 26 RBIs. She also recorded 25 stolen bases and scored 36 runs during her senior season.

Gwen Shouse, Batavia, senior, infielder: Shouse led the Bulldogs on offense after finishing with a .349 batting average (.438 OBP) on 22 hits and a home run to earn All-Conference honors.

Hayden Sujack, St. Charles East, sophomore, catcher/outfielder: The First team all-state and All-Conference honoree finished the year batting .415 (.492 OBP) and had a slugging percentage of .887. She had 11 home runs, 39 RBIs, 26 runs scored and finished the season with more doubles (17) than singles (16) and strikeouts (16).

Brynn Woods, Kaneland, sophomore, pitcher/outfielder: Woods led the Knights offensively and defensively throughout the season. At the plate, she finished batting .300 with 18 hits and nine RBIs. In the circle, she posted a 1.75 ERA while striking out 154 batters on her way to being named Second team all-state.

Honorable Mention

Angelina Campise, junior, Kaneland; Kat Cerwin, junior, Geneva; Hailey Hornick, senior, Geneva; Julianna Kouba, freshman, St. Charles North; Lauren Kennedy, sophomore, St. Francis; Haley Nelson, senior, St. Charles North; Isabelle Reed, sophomore, Burlington Central; Skyla Ritter, senior, St. Charles North; Kaitlyn Sprague, junior, Geneva; Addy Umlauf, junior, St. Charles North