Softball: Huntley's Petryniec wins 300th game
Having won more games than any pitcher in Huntley history, it was fitting Tiffany Giese was in the circle Monday for No. 300 for her coach Mark Petryniec.
The Red Raiders defeated Hampshire 13-0 to maintain their lead in the Fox Valley Conference and give Petryniec his 300th win.
Giese, a senior headed to Wisconsin-Green Bay, has won 79 of those including 14 this year. She pitched the first four innings Monday, allowing 2 hits and no walks before freshman Briana Bower pitched the fifth.
"I'm really proud of him, he deserves it," Giese said of her coach. "He works really hard for us. He's always there to hype us up. If you have a coach who brings you down it's hard to bring it back but he's always our hype man."
Huntley (18-5, 7-1) bounced back from a loss to Kaneland on Saturday in the championship game of Marengo's tournament.
The Red Raiders pounded out 15 hits in the 5-inning game and celebrated with cake afterward.
"Those milestones are a combination of having good teams and we've been successful the last four years," Petryniec said. "I said I've never hit a ball or pitched a ball. This kind of accomplishment is based solely on the program that we have and the girls."
Huntley used its speed early against the Whip-Purs, stealing 6 bases in the first two innings. The Red Raiders swiped 11 in the game including nine from the first two hitters in the lineup, Giese and freshman Marley Reicher (3-for-3).
"We work hard together," Giese said. "We're partners. We help each other at stations to make each other better."
"The one thing you can't teach is speed and we have it," Petryniec said. "We have it at the bottom of the order too. The approach has been on, over, in and when you can gain bases without putting the ball in play that puts us in a nice offensive position."
Huntley put pressure on Hampshire from the first inning on, scoring twice in the first, three times in the second and fourth, and five times in the fifth.
The Red Raiders also showed their power with a 2-run home run by Sofia Tenuta (2-for-4, 4 RBI) in the second and 3-run shot from Grace Kutz (3-for-4, double, 4 RBI) that capped the scoring in the fifth.
"We have a good combination of speed and power and that came into play today," Petryniec said. "Our approach is line drives and ground balls score run and if they happen to go out they go out. Grace had a nice swing, Soph had a really nice swing on that."
Hampshire got a runner to third in the second and another to second in the fourth but Giese pitched out of each inning. She struck out three, baffling the Whip-Purs with her off-speed.
"My defense kills it behind me," Giese said. "I love that. I can trust them and that helps me be confident in my pitching. We are just trying to keep momentum going and stay positive."
Hampshire (9-10, 4-6) suffered a scare in the third inning when shortstop Delaney Rummell was hit in the elbow on a pitch by Giese. She left the game for an inning but returned to finish.
"It swelled up pretty good there but as soon as she got ice on it it went down," Hampshire coach Kelly Wasilewski said. "She wanted to get back in. Tough kid."
Sarah Bowen provided one of the few bright spots for the Whip-Purs with 2 singles.
"Our hitters usually do pretty well, we just didn't make the adjustments today we needed to," Wasilewski said.