Sports

Thursday's prep roundup: Kaneland softball routs Sycamore

Danielle Guerra - dguerra@shawmedia.com Teammates pat Kaneland batter Morgan Weber on the back after she rounded the bases after her homerun during the conference game against Sycamore in Maple Park on Thursday, April 14, 2016. Kaneland beat Sycamore, 8-1.

By KANE COUNTY

MAPLE PARK – The Kaneland softball team's robust offense had been running into a few problems since the start of Northern Illinois Big 12 East Conference play.

But the Knights' bats woke up on April 14 against Sycamore, bashing three home runs in an 8-1 win.

"We started off the year real hot with a real aggressive offense, but we took our spring trip and when we came back, that offense hasn't transpired for us," Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said. "Today it showed back up. Our defense and pitching has been real, real tight, and the offense hasn't been there to support us."

Cleanup hitter Meg Cohrs set the tone early for Kaneland (7-4, 1-2 NI Big 12 East) with a two-run home run to left field with two outs in the first inning. After 10 homers last season, it was her first this year.

"That kid just swings the bat," Kuefler said. "We had a conversation about two weeks ago, I told her, 'Just to let it go, just swing the bat. You're a free-swinging hitter and I want you to get back to that free swinging.' And she has."

Morgan Weber led off the fifth with a home run, and Aly Jesionowski added a three-run, inside-the-park home run in the sixth to break the game open.

"You always want the first one, so it feels good," Cohrs said. "I feel like once you get the first one, who knows what happens from there. Once Morgan hit her first, I was like, 'Guys, the floodgates are open. Anyone can hit them now.' It was nice."

Sycamore (3-6, 1-2) scored an unearned run in the top of the second inning when Addison Foulk – pinch running for Lexi Gordon, who singled – scored on an error when Anna Criswell hit a grounder to third and Cohrs' throw was offline. Kaneland starter Courtney Davis allowed only three hits the rest of the way, and the Spartans never got another runner past first base.

"You need to tip your cap to Meg Cohrs and Morgan Weber. They've been doing that to everybody for their whole careers," Sycamore coach Jill Carpenter said. "You can't avoid them all. We have to get the people out before them so maybe we can pitch a little different to them."

St. Charles East 17, East Aurora 5 (5 inn.): At Lombard, East (8-1, 2-1 Upstate Eight Conference River Division) rebounded from a 1-0 loss to West Aurora the previous day. Maddy Stout had five RBIs for the Saints, while Jordan Hieber contributed three. East out-hit the Rams, 12-5.

West Aurora 6, Geneva 3: At Aurora, Geneva was unable to hold on to a 3-1 lead after four innings and fell to 7-3 (3-2 UEC River). Kaitlyn Plocinski was 3 for 3 with two RBIs. The Vikings struck out 12 times against Blackhawks ace Hannah Beatus one day after she fanned 10 St. Charles East hitters.

Burlington Central 6, Richmond-Burton 5: At Richmond, Kristina Ahlers had an inside-the-park home run to lead 8-2 Burlington Central to the Big Northern Conference East Division victory.

BASEBALL

St. Charles North 14, Streamwood 4 (5 inn.): At St. Charles, Raphael Rhoades and Jake Chantos each drove in two runs for St. Charles North (8-2, 5-0 UEC River) as it completed a three-game sweep of Streamwood in UEC River action.

Batavia 8, Larkin 2: At Elgin, Luke Golson guided Batavia to the UEC River series sweep, allowing one hit in a win. Tyler Kledzik had three hits and three RBIs for the Bulldogs (7-2, 3-2 UEC River).

Lasalle-Peru 4, Kaneland 3: At Lasalle, Kaneland scored all three runs in the second inning, getting a big game from William Ring (3 for 3). Joe Laudont tripled and Luke Calabrese doubled for the 2-4 Knights.

DePaul Prep 8, Marmion 7 (10 inn.): At Chicago, Marmion fell in extra innings in the Chicago Catholic League contest.

Richmond-Burton 9, Burlington Central 6: At Burlington, John Murphy drove in two runs for the 6-6 Rockets in BNC East action.

GIRLS SOCCER

PepsiCo Showdown: Kaneland 1, Plainfield South 0: At Maple Park, Kaneland (7-3) earned a home shutout, scoring on a corner kick in the first half.

In other Showdown action, St. Charles North got two goals from Morgan Rerko in a 2-0 victory over Crystal Lake South. Madison Kaufman had an assist on Rerko's second goal, while Sam Sample made six saves for the 7-2 North Stars.

Burlington Central routed Romeoville, 7-1, in its Showdown game. Elizabeth Gousios had four goals for the 8-3 Rockets.

Naperville North 2, St. Charles East 0: At Naperville, St. Charles East suffered its first loss and goals against this season in nonconference action.

BOYS TENNIS

Marmion 4, St. Francis 1: At Aurora, John King and Luke Hoss earned singles victories for Marmion (5-1, 3-1 Chicago Catholic League). St. Francis' lone winner was Sam McEnery at No. 3 singles.

BADMINTON

Geneva 12, St. Charles East 3: At Geneva, Geneva improved to 4-0 in UEC play behind a 4-1 effort in doubles. Elizabeth Blaszynski and Mollie McDonald were among Geneva's double winners. Alice Mikosz won at No. 5 singles for East.

• Shaw Media's Eddie Carifio contributed to this report.