Burlington Central handles DeKalb

No secrets were revealed on Rocket Hill Monday when the softball teams from Burlington Central and DeKalb met for Central’s Senior Day.

With a potential regional championship matchup looming on the same field next week, neither BC coach Cray Allen nor DeKalb coach Jeff Davis sent their ace pitchers, Angie Morrow and Katie Kowalski respectively, to the circle for Monday’s game.

That mattered little to the host Rockets, whose seniors set the tone early in a 10-2 win, Central’s 25th victory of the season.

“I thought our seniors showed a lot of leadership today by coming out and playing the game the right way,” said Allen, whose team is the top seed in next week’s Class 3A BC regional. “They were thinking about being leaders and role models for the 12 kids coming back. Those kids are going to be a great addition to any college program.”

Central (25-8), which has now won 19 of its last 21 games, scored 4 runs in the first inning and never looked back. After Courtni Neubauer (3-for-3) led off with a single, senior Emily Bell launched Kaylin Kennedy’s pitch far beyond the right-center field fence for a 2-0 lead.

“It was the best feeling ever,” said Bell of hitting a home run on Senior Day. “The feeling off the bat was amazing.”

Bekah Harnish doubled and after Millikin-bound senior Sarah Kisch reached on an error, senior Indiana State recruit Haley Albamonte drove in Harnish and Brooke Gaylor drove home courtesy runner Ashley Gousios to stake freshman pitcher Kassi Gaylord to a 4-0 lead.

Harnish belted a 3-run homer after Neubauer singled and Bell doubled in the second to make it 7-0 and Kisch had a 2-run single in the third as BC went up 9-0.

DeKalb (17-11), the No. 2 regional seed, scored a run on 4 hits in the fourth and an unearned run in the fifth. The Rockets concluded the scoring in the sixth on Kassi Gaylord’s RBI single that drove in Albamonte.

The Rockets also played a clean defensive game, with senior Amanda Ritchie contributing 4 assists from second base.

“Even though we didn’t see their No. 1 pitcher we saw their team and their defense and we kept note of the things we saw,” said Bell, who will play at North Dakota next year.

Kassi Gaylord allowed DeKalb 7 hits. She struck out 6, walked 1 and hit 1. The Rockets, who close the regular season at home Friday against Class 3A power Glenbard South, had 17 hits off Kennedy, who struck out 5 and walked none.