Baseball: Kaneland upsets Huntley to win Marengo tourney
Rose Roach provided the offensive fireworks for Kaneland while McKenna Ryan and Emilee Erickson excelled in the pitching circle.
The well balanced Knights were solid in all facets of the game in posting an 8-2 win over Huntley in the championship game of the Marengo Tournament Saturday.
"We beat 3 very good teams including a very good Huntley team in the championship game," said Kaneland boss Mike Kuefler. "We wanted to play different teams and all 8 teams here at Marengo are very good.
"McKenna was pitching very well but Huntley has a very good hitting team and we didn't want her to face that type of hitting lineup for a third time. Emilee came in and did a great job. Also, at this time of the year we want to watch our pitch counts."
Ryan, the winning pitcher for the Knights (14-9), allowed a 2-run homer to Paige Berkmeyer on 5 hits.
Erickson pitched 3 innings and blanked the Red Raiders (17-5) without allowing a hit. The hard-throwing left-hander didn't allow a hit while striking out 7 with 4 walks.
With Huntley leading 2-1, the Knights grabbed the lead for at 3-2 on a long 2-run homer by Rose Roach.
"Coach (Kuefler) actually gave me the option to bunt," said Roach. "I felt I was swinging the bat well and everything worked out well. I got my favorite pitch, an inside fastball and drove it well."
Kaneland gave itself some breathing room with 5 runs in the sixth.
With 10 batters coming to the plate, the key hits for the Knights in the inning off Huntley reliever Brianna Bower were a 2-run triple from Olivia Ortegel, a 2-run single by Haley Roach and a run-producing single by Hannah Theobald.
Erickson struck out 2 and walked 1 as the Red Raiders didn't threaten in the seventh.
Donatella Sommesi, Haley Roach, Rose Roach and Maddie Wheatley each produced 2 hits for the tournament champions.
Grace Kutz collected 2 hits for Huntley.
"Give all the credit to Kaneland," said Huntley coach Mark Petryniec. "They are a very strong hitting team that had a very good approach at the plate. This tournament will help us with the second run of the conference (Fox Valley) coming up."
The third-place game between Bishop McNamara-Marengo was postponed due to darkness and will be played at a later date.
In the fifth-place game, the Whip-Purs scored 8 runs in the fifth to finish off Andrew, 13-3. The key hit in the fifth was a grand slam by Gwyneth Malecke.
Jasmine Lopez, the beneficiary of the Whip-Purs power surge, picked up the win.
In the seventh-place game, Montini beat Bartlett 15-2.
The Broncos scored in 5 of 6 innings including five in the fifth and six in the sixth.
Montini, with 12 hits including 7 extra base hits, got a grand slam by Nicole Cuchran and a 3-run shot by Alyssa Filkowski. No. 9 hitter Cynthia Ng was 4-for-4 with 2 doubles and 5 RBI.
Danielle Kleeman drove in both runs for the Hawks, who also lost 13-5 to Andrew, with a 2-run double.
In the semifinals, Kaneland beat the defending 3A state champs Marengo 3-2 while Huntley defeated Bishop McNamara 6-5 in 9 innings.
In the most exciting game of the day, an RBI single by Tiffany Giese in the ninth gave the Red Raiders the win and advancement to the title game.
"It was a long game," said Giese. "I got a good pitch to hit and we won a great game."
Bower pitched 5 strong innings in relief to earn the win. Giese and Kendra Mitchell had 3 hits each.
Hampshire defeated Montini 5-4. Spotting the Broncos a 3-0 lead after 1 inning, the Whip-Purs rallied behind solo homers by Malecke and Delaney Rummel. Lopez picked up the win in relief.
Cuchran had a 2-run double for Montini.