Geneva's bats come alive at Kaneland
Sometimes it doesn't take long to know it's going to be your day. Sometimes it only takes one inning. In Geneva's case Thursday at Kaneland, it took one pitch.
Taylor Medernach doubled on the first pitch of the game, Clare Stribling singled on the last pitch Geneva saw and in-between the Vikings kept swinging the bats for a 7-2 win.
Geneva (3-7, 2-0) capitalized on a back injury that kept Kaneland ace Delani Vest from pitching. The Vikings pounded 13 hits, including three each from senior captain Stacey Cladis, winning pitcher Kelly McCaffrey and freshman clean-up hitter Kirsten Searcy.
"I've been trying to get my bat through and extend my hands and I've been working all season and I finally started connecting today," Cladis said. "It was really exciting because I have been waiting for that all season."
Dori Rogers and Melissa Barber both walked after Medernach's leadoff double in the first. Searcy drove home the first two runs with her single to center. McCaffrey capped the 4-run first inning with an RBI single.
Searcy followed with two more singles, including a run-scoring hit in the seventh that gave her 3 RBI. She and Cladis, Geneva's No. 4 and 5 hitters, combined to go 6-for-8.
"I was just seeing the ball really well so I guess it was just my day," Searcy said.
Kaneland starter Alexis Villarreal settled down after the first inning. The sophomore held Geneva scoreless from the second through sixth innings before a Knights error opened the door for three unearned Vikings runs in the seventh.
"Errors and walks hurt us," said Kaneland coach Brian Willis, who said Vest - who won 17 games with a 0.50 ERA as a freshman last year - will return to the circle on Saturday against Marengo. Vest stayed in the lineup and hit leadoff Thursday.
"We shut her down for a day," Willis said. "It's (the back) something she fights all the time. With the weather and cold it's too early in the year to try to run her out there in that situation."
McCaffrey (1-4) didn't let the cold bother her while picking up her first win. She pitched a complete game, allowing 4 hits and 3 walks to go with 5 strikeouts.
"It (the cold) wasn't that bad once you got started," McCaffrey said. "Maybe (Geneva's 2-7 start was) a little frustrating because we know we can play good."
McCaffrey retired the final 9 hitters, including Vest on a liner to Barber at second base for the final out.
"Kelly did a good job after they got the two runs and we made some nice plays in the field," Dierks said.
"She has challenged some kids and is getting more comfortable from last year on using both sides of the plate. She might have been a little too predictable last year. She has a little more variety."
Kaneland cut Geneva's 4-0 lead in half with two runs in the third. Freshman Allyson O'Herron walked and scored on Andrea Dimmig-Potts' double. Rilee Vest singled in Kaneland's second run.
Both Dimmig-Potts (2-for-3) and Rilee Vest also are battling shoulder and hand injuries. It hasn't been the easiest stat for the Knights (2-2, 0-2), who jumped into Western Sun play this week with just two nonconference tuneup games.
"Not only are we fighting youth but we are fighting some early season injuries," Willis said. "We just want to make sure the girls stay positive. It is our job to fix it and at the end of the year I think we will be someone to be reckoned with.
"Our defense is letting us down. We thought our defense would be a little better. Our hats off to Geneva, they played well and deserved to win."