Softball: It's a FVC 3-peat for Huntley
Winning the Fox Valley Conference softball championship is not a goal for Huntley. It's an expectation.
With a 5-0 win over host Cary-Grove Tuesday afternoon, the Red Raiders earned at least a share of the conference title. It is the third consecutive FVC crown for the Raiders.
"We have a good mixture of veterans and newcomers," said Huntley coach Mark Petryniec, whose team can win the title outright at home Wednesday against Jacobs. "These girls really have bought into the program and worked very hard in the offseason."
The Red Raiders (24-5, 12-1) excelled in all three phases of the game Tuesday - defense, offense and pitching.
Defensively, Huntley made 1 error and it scored its 5 runs on 12 hits.
Tallying 2 runs in the fourth, 1 in the sixth and 2 in the seventh, the Red Raiders were led by Sofia Tenuta who was 3-for-4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI.
"My mindset is to hit the ball hard every time at the plate," said Tenuta. "I really saw the ball well and had good at-bats. We are a very close team and we trust each other. We are together 24/7 and we have a family atmosphere. Winning conference is always a goal. We are really starting to mesh together as a team."
Tiffany Giese, Autumn Kasal, Teagan O' Reilly (2 RBI) and Paige Berkmeyer (RBI single) collected 2 hits each for the winners.
"We had decent approaches at the plate all day long," said Petryniec. "I liked the way we swung the bats and we had timely hitting."
Moving to 17-2 for the season, Giese blanked the Trojans on 3 singles in 4 innings of work. The senior hurler struck out 1 without a walk.
Freshman Brianna Bower pitched the final 3 innings for the Red Raiders and shut out the Trojans on 3 singles while striking out 2 with a walk.
"I have liked our pitching all season," said Petryniec. "Tiffany does a great job of starting games and Brianna as a freshman comes in relief and does a great job. We have two really good pitchers."
The Trojans (13-9), who left 6 runners on base, got 2 hits each from Katy Wieczorek and Frankie Cruz.
Emma Hill, the losing pitcher, gave up 5 runs on 12 hits, 11 of which were singles. She struck out 6 without allowing a walk. The Trojans' defense didn't commit an error in the game.
"I thought we played a good solid game and played right with them," said Cary-Grove coach Tammy Olson. "Emma pitched a very good game and kept the game close. Our defense was outstanding and made all the plays. We need to have better timely hitting. Huntley is very solid in every area, They have two good pitchers, good timely hitting and solid defense. They are a very good overall team."