Slow start costs Kaneland

John Lennon once sang “Mama said there’s going to be days like this,” a refrain that also summed up the mood of Kaneland softball coach Brian Willis Thursday.

His Knights welcomed DeKalb to Maple Park for an early Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference showdown, the two teams entering with a combined 14-1 record.

From the Barbs’ 6-run first inning to their 7-run sixth inning, the game was all DeKalb in a 15-4 victory that didn’t leave Willis with much to talk about.

“What can you say?” Willis said. “There’s going to be days like this. Try to move forward Saturday and learn from this. Disappointing effort, disappointing execution.

“It was an ugly game. Give the credit to DeKalb, they came out to play more than we did.”

DeKalb (8-0, 2-0) jumped on Kaneland sophomore starter Taylor Velazquez early. Sabrina Killeen led off the game by ripping a double, the start of her 5-for-5 day with 3 RBI and 2 runs.

“She did a nice job and mixed in some slapping today,” DeKalb coach Jeff Davis said. “She is our leader.”

Killeen scored the first run on Kelli Gerace’s RBI single. Killeen later capped the first inning with a 2-run single to complete the 6-run outburst.

“The first inning they hit the ball hard but there were plays we should have made to keep some runs off the board,” Willis said. “Haven’t had practice in week and a half. We were bound to make mistakes and they did.”

Andrea Dimmig-Potts got Kaneland on the board in the bottom of the first with a towering solo home run high into the trees well beyond the left-field fence.

“I was just waiting for a good pitch to hit,” Dimmig-Potts said. “I got a first pitch fastball inside and sat back and drove it.”

DeKalb added 2 runs in the second inning to chase Velazquez. Dimming-Potts pulled the Knights within 8-3 with a 2-run double in the third, then scored when DeKalb couldn’t come up with Katy Dudzinski’s soft liner.

The game stayed 8-4 through the fourth and fifth innings before the Knights’ defense came unglued in the sixth. Four Kaneland errors led to 7 unearned runs off Alexis Villarreal.

DeKalb finished with 16 hits against Velazquez and Villarreal, a sophomore and junior working to replace Delani Vest. Willis said both have shown flashes that he just wants to see more often.

“It’s a work in progress,” Willis said. “The consistency is what we are trying to find. We have people that can throw good games in spots. They are young and consistency will come with experience.”

DeKalb also has a young arm, freshman Katie Kowalski. She put the finishing touches on her complete game with a 1-2-3 sixth to end the game.

Dimmig-Potts had 3 of Kaneland’s 5 hits. She followed her homer with 2 doubles, including an opposite field blast in the fifth she nearly hit out when DeKalb was doing all it could to keep the ball off the plate and give her nothing to hit.

“We got a giggle out of her last at-bat, we were willing to walk her and she sticks her bat out and drove one to the fence in right,” Davis said. “We tip our hat to her, she is an awesome athlete.”

Davis said when asked to rank Northern Illinois Big 12 teams in the preseason he put Kaneland No. 1 and Sycamore No. 2. The Barbs have now opened conference beating both.

Willis said the Knights will use this loss to get better before they see the Barbs again.

“We’ll get another crack at them,” Willis said. “We’ll give them a better game.”