Yorkville junior Kayla Kersting found her future home with Iowa. Now she’s right at home in leadoff spot

YORKVILLE – Kayla Kersting has the hitting skills that fits the leadoff position in a softball lineup, and the patient approach.

But speed, too?

Yes, teams would be wise to not sleep on the wheels of Kersting, Yorkville’s powerful junior catcher and an Iowa recruit.

“I like to say I’m pretty fast, 2.85 seconds down to first base, not bad,” Kersting said. “People are pretty shocked when they see me steal. I guess I fit the leadoff [spot].”

Kersting was moved from third to first in the Yorkville order a week ago. She looks right at home.

She homered in her first at-bat Saturday, and reached base all four times in Yorkville’s 11-9 loss to visiting Antioch in the first game of a doubleheader.

Kersting got on base five more times in the second game, a 9-6 loss, with a double and triple and three runs scored.

She’ll hit wherever Yorkville coach Jory Regnier puts her, and so far it looks like a genius move.

“Your first batter is the tone setter,” Regnier said. “Kayla is so composed in there, and she’s kind of a scary batter to see in the box. The bonus is she gets to bat the most, but mostly it’s setting the tone which we love about her.”

Regnier had to love Kersting’s laser home run to right-center to lead off Yorkville’s first inning, her second of the season.

“This fence is pretty high,” Kersting said. “I thought it would hit the top of the fence. That might be my second opposite-field homer.”

If that long ball surprised Kersting, her hustle RBI triple in her third at-bat on a liner that scooted into the gap didn’t surprise Regnier.

“She is extremely fast, a very sneaky base runner,” Regnier said. “I don’t think a lot of people expect that.”

Kersting has not stopped hitting since she showed up in Yorkville.

Kersting batted .447 with six homers and 37 RBIs two years ago as the youngster on Yorkville’s Class 4A state runner-up. She hit .442 with nine homers and 30 RBIs last year, and is at a cool .636 with five extra-base hits and 10 RBIs through nine games.

She found her future softball home in November, committing to Iowa, a seemingly home away from home.

Kersting’s dad, who teaches and coaches at Oswego, played football at Iowa. Her mom is an Iowa State graduate. Older brother Blake, who starred in football at Yorkville, volunteered as an equipment manager last year at Iowa State and is now a student coach there.

Kersting even plays for a travel softball team in Iowa out of Des Moines.

“My whole family is from Iowa, my parents grew up in the same town,” Kersting said. “All my family is there – my cousins, my grandparents. In the winter every other weekend I make a round trip for softball practice, see my brother in Ames and go to my grandparents. It was one of my top schools."

Yorkville (6-4), with Kersting leading the way, got off to a 4-0 start to the season. The Foxes, since then, dropped games to Lincoln-Way East and Lincoln-Way Central, both ranked in the top five in Class 4A by the Illinois Coaches Association, and the doubleheader Saturday to Antioch, Class 3A runner-up the last two years.

That’s OK with Regnier, whose team came back from 11-3 down in the first game to bring the tying run to the plate in the last inning.

Isla Eidsness was 2 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI for Yorkville in the first game. Ellie Fox homered in the second.

“It does us no good to play teams that won’t challenge us,” Regnier said. “Long trip, but it’s worth it to play good teams.”

Antioch (3-6) is that, even with five starters graduated from last year’s state team, including standout pitcher Jaycey Schuler now at Michigan State.

The Sequoits can still hit, and pounded out 15 hits in the first game Saturday. Claire Schuyler, a Minnesota commit, had three hits, including a three-run triple in Antioch’s five-run second inning. Bradley commit Hailey Webb had the fourth of four straight doubles in the fourth.

“Beginning of the year we played a lot of ranked teams and we kind of struggled. We’re a young team,” Antioch coach Anthony Rocco said. “After losses to Lockport and Huntley kind of clicked for us. Proud of the way we hit today.”