Softball: Olp's blast leads Kaneland to sectional crown

Off the bat, Emily Olp said she thought she hit a home run. Then when she looked up at her shot in the top of the sixth inning in a scoreless game with two on against Belvidere North, she thought it was going to be an out and a likely sacrifice fly.

Her first instinct, as it turned out, was right. The Kaneland cleanup hitter ended up with a three-run home run, all the support Grace Algrim needed in the Knights' 5-0 win to claim the Class 3A Sycamore sectional crown Friday.

"This feels absolutely amazing," Olp said. "We really wanted to win and hitting a home run, it's the best feeling ever already, and to have it add to our success in that game, it feels amazing."

The Knights (19-12) reached their first supersectional since 2019, when they ended up second at the 3A state tournament. They will play at home at 4:30 p.m. Monday against Antioch.

"It's excellent," Kaneland coach Mike Keufler said. "And what's even bigger is we get to go back home to play a super. I'm ecstatic. Every three, four years we get an opportunity to move on in the tournament and here we are. We're excited."

Through five innings, the game was a pitchers' duel between Algrim and Becca Schwartz of Belvidere North (21-8). Neither pitcher had allowed a run, and Schwartz hadn't allowed a hit since Olivia Stoker started the game with a single.

Kailey Plank led the top of the sixth off with a single for the Knights, then Isabelle Strombes reached on an error and stole second to place runners at second and third for Olp, who had two popouts to start the game.

But Olp got a hold of a Schwartz fastball and took it to the alley in right-center. The ball was aided by a wind that was blowing from left field to right.

"Off the bat it felt amazing, so I was really hoping [it was a home run]," Olp said. "Then I saw how high it was and it scared me for a second. When it went over I was so happy."

Kuefler said he wasn't sure whether it was going to go or not, and Plank was watching the play ready to tag up should it have been caught.

"It was up there and the wind the way it was it was a little weird," Kuefler said. "It was a little cross-cut wind in the outfield and we weren't sure if that thing was going to drop on the other side. And when those girls hit the fence I didn't see the ball come down so I thought they had it, and I think [Plank] did too."

Algrim allowed only one hit over the final two innings after she was staked to the three-run lead, though the Blue Thunder loaded the bases in the seventh.

Algrim allowed four hits, walked one and struck out four. She said the home run helped her performance in the circle.

"It motivates me to do better," Algrim said. "When we're not getting the runs in that we needed, I feel like I need to work a lot harder. But when we get runs on the board it makes me a little bit relaxed and know I have some room to make some errors."

Kaneland added two runs in the seventh. Corrine Pugh reached on an error and scored on a Stoker single, then a Plank double scored Stoker.

"A 0-0 game is an exhausting game for a pitcher," Kuefler said. "We get three runs and she felt pretty good. She came into the dugout that next inning and said 'I'd like to have a few more.' She told that to the girls and they got her a couple more. That let her relax a little bit."

Next up for the Knights is Antioch (27-3), a team that has only lost to Marist (still playing in a 4A supersectional), Wauconda (the team Antioch beat to win the Lakes sectional) and St. Charles East (4A Bartlett regional champs).

"We really focus on the postseason, and if we happen to collect that conference championship along the way, that's just an added bonus," Kuefler said. "It was not disappointing, but a little bit of a let down to the girls that we didn't win conference. They remained focused and have done a good job on focusing on what we wanted to do in the postseason."