Softball: Kaneland surprises West Aurora to win Fox Valley Tournament
Kaneland cleanup hitter Hannah Theobald knew she had her hands full when she stepped into the batter's box Saturday against West Aurora ace Hannah Beatus in the championship game of the Fox Valley Tournament.
Theobald delivered the biggest hit of the game, a long home run over the center field fence to start the scoring in Kaneland's 2-1 victory over the fifth-ranked team in the area.
"I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe it," said Theobald, who also homered this year against Morris.
"She's a great pitcher. I was looking for something inside. She was plugging away on that inside pitch. She gave me that first one and I was like, 'I'm not going to miss the second one.' I was ready for it."
Kaneland hosted the tournament after it had been played at Stuart Sports Complex in Montgomery in past years.
The Knights (11-4-1) reached the championship game by beating Batavia and Metea Valley, both by 10-1 scores.
Senior shortstop Moran Weber homered in both games, and Donatela Sommesi had 3 hits against Batavia, with freshman Emilee Erickson allowing no earned runs. Theobald was 3-for-3 and Lexi Abruzzo and Aly Jesionowski both had 2 hits in the win over Metea.
West Aurora (13-3) defeated Rosary 8-5 and Yorkville 7-2 Saturday. Against Kaneland, Beatus only allowed 1 hit - Theobald's homer - while striking out 7 in pitching the first 4 innings before giving way to sophomore Payton Lundberg.
"That doesn't happen very often," Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said of Beatus giving up the long ball. "They are two of best pitchers in our area. I love competing against kids like that. For our girls to take that lead was big. All that does is help us down the road."
West Aurora tied the game 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth against Jesionowski. Faith Pokryfke lined a double to the right field gap and scored on Sarah Hansen's single up the middle.
Lundberg entered in the fifth and quickly got 2 strikeouts. But a dropped fly ball opened the door, and Weber made Kaneland pay with an opposite-field RBI single to right.
"They had a couple big hits," West Aurora coach Randy Hayslett said. "We had a tough time with the one fly ball. It was a good softball game, that's a good softball team. We're going to have a couple like that. I say you have to score 3 runs. We didn't put up 3 runs today and we lost."
Erickson relieved Jesionowski in the sixth and gave up a 1-out double to Kallie Rundle. Sommesi saved the day for Kaneland with a diving catch in left field to take away what would have been Pokryfke's third hit.
"She's a freshman for us and never ceases to amaze us in situations like that," Kuefler said. "She comes out of nowhere and catches balls like that."
The game only lasted 6 innings because it reached a time limit. The umpire told both teams with 2 outs in the sixth that it would be the last inning.
"They did say ahead of time, we just weren't paying attention to time as the game went on," Hayslett said. "When he said that with two outs, that kind of catches you off-guard. But those were the rules."
West Aurora outhit Kaneland 5-2; Beatus and Lundburg combined for 13 strikeouts in 6 innings. Yet the Knights found a way to stay hot, now 11-1-1 in their last 13 games after starting the year 0-3.
"It was a good weekend," Kuefler said. "The girls played well."
Metea Valley defeated Yorkville 3-2 in 8 innings in the third-place game.
After Rosary and Batavia both lost its first two games at the tournament Saturday, the Bulldogs scored four runs in sixth to hand Rosary a 9-8 loss. Rachael Lovestrand drove in four runs for Batavia. Riley McCue did the same for Rosary, and she and Krystal Cortes both homered.