Softball/Fox Valley roundup

DeKalb sophomore Katie Kowalski picked up where she left off.

Kowalski, who beat Elgin in last year’s regional tournament, handcuffed the Maroons again on Monday as the Barbs came away with a 5-1 nonconference win at Elgin.

But despite the final score, Elgin sophomore Jennah Perryman was equal to the challenge, allowing DeKalb just 3 hits and striking out 10. The difference was Elgin’s 7 errors, as Perryman allowed only 1 earned run.

DeKalb, a sectional champion last year, scored 3 runs in the first inning and added 2 in the top of the seventh.

Elgin (1-1) scored its only run in the fourth when Caroline Sobeski’s two-out double drove home Kelly Bremer, who also doubled. Anna Eckholm also had a double in the game for the Maroons, but Elgin struck out 12 times against Kowalski.

The Maroons were playing without starting center fielder and No. 2 hitter Rachel Roth, who was out sick.

“We made two big errors and Jennah started a little rough in the first inning but all in all I thought we played all right,” said Elgin coach Chad Dahlman. “DeKalb is a good team up and down the lineup and Kowalski mixes it up well. You just can’t give them all those extra outs.”

Hampshire 6, Sandwich 2: Hampshire’s Jordan Hook started the Whip-Purs’ 2012 campaign on a good note as she went 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and 2 triples, one of which accounted for 3 of the 4 Hampshire runs in the sixth to earn the team its first win. Senior Becca Vodraska went a 3-for-4 with 3 singles and pitcher Jen Hurst struck out 10 while allowing just 1 earned run on 6 hits.

Belvidere North 2, Larkin 0: Kiernan Schock had a great day in the circle for the Royals, allowing just 3 hits and no earned runs but she’d be upstaged by a no-hitter from Belvidere North’s Amanda Blakenship in a 2-0 loss in Belvidere. Blakenship struck out 14 and walked just 2 batters.