CARY – McHenry senior first baseman Kate Funk didn't make solid contact against Cary-Grove's Emma Hill in her first three at-bats.

With a chance to do some damage in the top of the seventh inning, Funk found her sweet spot.

Funk punished a 2-0 pitch over the center-field fence 200 feet away with runners on first and second base as McHenry pulled away for a 9-2 win in the teams' Fox Valley Conference game Monday.

Funk's three-run smash capped a five-run seventh for the Warriors (13-10, 6-5 FVC), who have won six straight after a three-game skid.

"My first few at-bats, I was kind of hitting it off the end off the bat," said Funk, who will play at NCAA Division III Wisconsin-Stout next year. "I knew we needed a big hit in that situation. I said, 'I'm just going to sit back and wait on it,' and that happened.

"It felt really good. Whenever I'm able to do that for my team, we all get really pumped up."

McHenry scored five runs on five hits in the seventh to build on a 4-2 lead.

Maddy McDaniel, Taylor Zoephel and Ashley Zoephel reached base to start the seventh.

Jocelyn Currie (2 for 4, 3 RBIs) had an RBI single to center field to score McDaniel, and Tori Boysen added a sacrifice fly to left field to score Taylor Zoephel, giving the Warriors a 6-2 lead.

Funk then provided the big blow, a no-doubt home run that landed at least 20 feet past the fence.

"Ashley (Zoephel) was on second base, and she went back, stood there, and watched it go over," Warriors coach Mikaela Mitsch said. "I joked with her after, 'You didn't need to do that.' It was gone as soon as she hit it."

Julia Druml beat C-G for the second time this year, allowing two runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings with two strikeouts and three walks.

With the Warriors leading, 4-2, Alyssa Pearson entered in relief with runners on first and second and one out in the sixth. She got a strikeout and flyout, and then tossed a scoreless seventh to seal the Warriors' sixth straight win.

"When I go in there, I know I have a job to do and finish it off," Pearson said. "I thought Julia pitched really well. She kept them off-balance and got them a couple of times through the lineup. We both work really well together."

The Trojans (9-10, 4-6) took a 1-0 lead in the first on a two-out base hit by Jazzy Flashing to score Kelly Johnson, who led off with a double. Hill knocked in Katy Wieczorek in the third for C-G's last run.

The Trojans left 11 runners on base.

"It was a little frustrating we didn't come through when we needed to with a big hit," Trojans coach Tammy Olson said. "[Funk] had a great home run that kind of separated the game, and it's a different game at that point."

Ashley Zoephel had two runs scored and one RBI, Boysen drove in two, and McDaniel and Taylor Zoephel each scored twice. For C-G, Alina Krembuszewski (3 for 3) had three singles.

STAR OF THE GAME

Kate Funk, McHenry, sr., 1B

Funk (2 for 4) hit a long three-run home run in the seventh to break the game open. The Warriors scored five runs in the inning.

THE NUMBER

6: McHenry has won six games in a row.

AND ANOTHER THING … 

McHenry center fielder Kyra Lard threw out Cary-Grove's Lindsey Norberg at home plate for the last out of the second inning. Norberg was trying to score from second base on a hard-hit single by Alina Krembuszewski.

McHenry 9, Cary-Grove 2

McHenry 002 020 5 – 9 12 2

Cary-Grove 101 000 0 – 2 10 2

WP: Druml (5.1IP, 9H, 2R, 2ER, 3BB, 2K). LP: Hill (6.1IP, 12H, 9R, 7ER, 0BB, 6K).

Top hitters–McHenry: Funk 2-4 (HR, 4RBI, R), Currie 2-4 (3RBI), A. Zoephel 2-4 (RBI, 2R), Boysen 1-3 (2B, 2RBI, R), Lard 1-4 (2B), McDaniel 2-3 (2R), T. Zoephel 2-3 (SB, 2R). Cary-Grove: Johnson 2-4 (2B, R), Krembuszewski 3-3, Flashing 1-4 (RBI), Hill 1-4 (RBI).