Softball: Burlington Central nips Rock Falls
As much as Mother Nature tried to wreak havoc at Burlington Central on Saturday, neither pitcher — the host Rockets' Emily Kisch or Rock Falls' Payton Yanes — were the least bit intimidated.
Despite a howling wind blowing straight out the two aces locked up in a pitchers duel with Kisch prevailing in a 2-1 nonconference win for Central over a team the Rockets could see again in the Class 3A postseason as they are both assigned to the same subsectional of the Genoa-Kingston sectional.
Kisch (11-3) scattered 5 hits while striking out 6 and allowing just 2 free passes. Kristina Ahlers delivered the big hit on offense with a solo homer in the third inning.
“I try not to let the conditions affect me at all,” Kisch said. “No matter what the weather is like I have to focus on getting ahead in the count and hitting my spots.'
Kisch was on the mark most of the game especially early on, throwing 58 of her 87 pitches for strikes. She threw a first pitch strike to the first 10 batters she faced. The first batter she did fall behind on reached base with the first hit of the game for Rock Falls to lead off the fourth inning.
After sailing through the first the first 3 innings, Kisch fell behind in the count on eight of the remaining batters and had to navigate her way out of trouble over the final 4 innings. She left a pair of runners stranded in the fourth before giving up her only run of the game in the fifth inning. Her biggest challenge came in the seventh inning when Rock Falls loaded the bases with 3 singles before Kisch was able to get the final out on a ground ball back to the circle.
“I don't let my nerves get to me when things get tight,' Kisch said. “I just try to keep making good pitches every time. And I know my defense is going to back me up.”
The Rockets (17-5) did flash some leather. Third baseman Gretchen Schrubbe saved an extra-base hit in the third inning with a nice backhanded grab of a hard hit ground ball down the line and a strong throw across the diamond for an out. Ahlers made a sweet play at shortstop in the sixth inning when she snared a ground ball headed up the middle, stepped on second for a force, and threw to first for a double play. Center fielder Sarah Kinney made a nice throw home in the seventh inning on single to keep the tying run from scoring around third.
“The pitching and the defense were really good today,” Central coach Erica Maisto said. “Emily did a great job of making adjustments. As the game went on (Rock Falls) started laying off some of those pitches that were just off the plate, but Emily battled through and made the big pitches when she need them. And the defense did a really good job of picking each other up.'
The Rockets scored their first run in the second inning. Jill Neisendorf reached on a 1-out single. Kinney laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to get Neisendorf to second and Madison Leone followed with an RBI single through the middle.
Ahlers' homer made it 2-0. It was her sixth of the year and came on a 1-2 pitch that was a good 6 inches off the outside corner.
“I was just kept trying to tell myself to wait back and swing easy,” Ahlers said. “ I wasn't trying to hit a home run. Surprisingly with the wind blowing out you try to remind yourself not to go up there and overswing. Just let it happen.”