Mylie Hughes does it all for Morris in win over Kaneland

MORRIS — It might be possible for Morris standout Mylie Hughes to have a better day than she did Wednesday against Interstate Eight Conference rival Kaneland, but it won’t be easy.

The junior pitched a complete-game, five-hit shutout with five strikeouts and one walk to set the tone for Morris (13-4, 2-2). The pitching performance was more than enough on its own, but Hughes wasn’t done. She also went 2 for 2 with a double, a home run and all four RBIs in a 4-0 win.

She doubled in the first inning to bring home Cami Pfeifer, who had walked, and in the bottom of the fifth, worked the count full until finding a pitch to her liking and launching it over the left-center field fence for a three-run homer - scoring both Halie Olson and Karson Dransfeldt ahead of her and giving her a much-desired cushion heading into the final two innings.

“Everything felt good today,” Hughes said. “The team had a lot of positive energy from the start, which really helped. My screwball was working really well. I was able to attack them on the inside of the plate with it and jam them. And, with our defense playing so well, it was easy for me to just let them hit it and not worry about striking everyone out.

“That last at-bat was pretty stressful with runners on and two outs. I just waited until I got my pitch and hit it. I knew it was going out when I hit it. Having a four-run lead instead of a one-run lead takes a big load off your mind when you are pitching. You don’t have to worry as much if someone gets on base and you can relax a little more.”

Hughes did not allow a hit until two outs in the third when Angelica Campise singled. She reached third on a throwing error, but was stranded there when Hughes retired the next hitter. Kaneland (9-7, 1-3) only got one more runner into scoring position. That came in the sixth inning when Lillyana Crawford and Brynn Woods both singled, but Hughes got the next batter on a pop to third to end the threat.

“Mylie had a great day,” Morris coach Jen Bamonte said. “When we played in Arkansas earlier this year, we played a team that was a seven-time state champ and had a stud pitcher. We told Mylie that if she could out-pitch her, we would get her some runs. She did it then, and that’s what she did today.

“We know playing in our conference, with teams like Kaneland, Sycamore, La Salle-Peru and Ottawa, we are going to get tough games and they are going to be dog fights. Our girls look forward to playing in games like this.

“As good as Mylie was, it was still a team win. We were excellent on defense all night. And Mylie’s home run doesn’t happen if Halie Olson doesn’t get a big hit with two strikes and then Karson Dransfeldt ran hard down the line to make their defender hurry their throw.”

Kaneland’s Ellie Peck nearly matched Hughes pitch for pitch, allowing just three hits and one earned run, while Natalie Naab had two of the Knights’ five hits.

“You can’t win if you don’t score,” Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said. “Their pitcher pitched a good game and kept us off balance. We are a young team and still learning and growing.

“Our pitchers have been great, but we let their pitcher get into a good rhythm. This is a very good conference, and we’re OK taking some hard knocks. Hopefully we will keep learning and it will pay off down the road.”