Softball: Huntley blows away Hampshire to reach Class 4A sectional final

ROSCOE – Huntley pitcher Juliana Maude wasn’t shaken by Hampshire shortstop Bria Riebel’s one-out home run in the top of the first inning Tuesday.

If anything, the Red Raiders senior was a little impressed.

“Good for her. That was a hard ball to hit,” Maude said. “It was on the dirt on the inside. Honestly, I don’t know how she got to that ball, but I refocused right away, and it didn’t really rattle me because I knew it was just a good hit at the end of the day.”

Riebel’s home run that sent left fielder Grace Benson flipping over the fence was about the only hard contact of the game against Maude, who allowed only one more hit – an infield pop the dropped between the pitcher and second baseman Sadie Svendsen – the rest of the way.

Huntley’s offense broke out for nine runs on eight hits in the bottom of the second inning, and Maude struck out 10 in five innings as the second-seeded Raiders defeated the fourth-seeded Whip-Purs 11-1 in their Class 4A Hononegah Sectional semifinal at Swanson Park.

Huntley (27-7) will face top-seeded Barrington (33-5) in the sectional final at 10 a.m. Saturday. Barrington beat the Raiders in last year’s sectional final at Huntley, rallying from a 7-2 deficit to shock the Raiders and end their season.

“Maude was phenomenal today. And that’s what you want to see from your senior in the postseason. Riebel is a great hitter, and they got her for one, but after that, [Maude] was lights out.”

—  Mark Petryniec, Huntley coach

On Tuesday, Maude tossed 54 of 72 pitches for strikes and didn’t issue any walks for the third straight game in the postseason.

“Maude was phenomenal today,” Raiders coach Mark Petryniec said. “And that’s what you want to see from your senior in the postseason. Riebel is a great hitter, and they got her for one, but after that, [Maude] was lights out.”

Seven of Huntley’s eight hits in the nine-run second were singles, while the Raiders also took advantage on the bases by advancing when Hampshire’s defenders weren’t looking.

“We didn’t defend very well,” Hampshire coach Jeremy Bauer said. “They had a few good hits and a few that just found places we didn’t have people at. Whenever you give a team like Huntley extra outs, you know they’re going to score some runs.

“Reibel’s home run was exciting, but you can’t rely on one home run or one hit. You have to string some together, and off of a good pitcher, we struggled to do that.”

Huntley freshman shortstop Aubrina Adamik came close to collecting her first home run, hitting a ball into the left-center field gap that landed near the bottom of the fence in the second inning with two outs. She had to settle for a two-run double and a 9-1 lead.

Katie Mitchell and Svendsen also had two-out RBIs earlier in the inning.

“I was rounding first and I just heard everyone cheering,” Adamik said of her double. “I kind of tripped a little, but I just kept sprinting. At least I got two runs in and did my job.”

Mitchell was 2 for 3 with two runs, two stolen bases and an RBI; Svendsen had three RBIs; and Ava McFadden and Adamik (2 for 2) each drove in two runs. Meg Ryan and Christina Smith added two runs apiece. Madison Rozanski had one RBI.

Second baseman Elyse Garcia, one of two seniors on Hampshire along with third baseman Kayla Valdez, had the other hit for the Whips.

Hampshire (14-16) won its first regional title since 2016 and had one of the biggest upsets of the season when it beat Huntley to end the Raiders’ Fox Valley Conference winning streak at 50 games.

“We were the underdogs all year,” Garcia said. “Nobody knew that we were going to go anywhere or had faith in us. The last few games, we fought hard as a team and we all kept our spirits up. People were saying it was lucky, but I think it was because we pushed ourselves to our best potential.”

Bauer sees a lot of potential for next year and beyond.

“We have the talent, we just need to put it all together,” he said. “Some days when we do put it all together, we look like we can beat just about anybody.”