Hinckley-Big Rock made history just by stepping on the field Monday against Genoa-Kingston, playing its first softball game since 2019.

After home runs in her first two at-bats against the Royals, Lizzy Davis had a chance at Genoa-Kingston history by tying the school’s career home run record with one more blast.

Davis fell short of her historic quest, instead having to settle for going 3 for 4 with five RBIs in the Cogs’ 27-3 win over the Royals in Hinckley in a four-inning game.

“On the bus ride here, we tried to be really hyped,” Davis said. “We knew that they hadn’t had a team in a while, so we were coming in with attack mode. We came out a little slow Saturday, so we wanted to come in here and assert dominance and play the strongest we could.”

The Royals’ field doesn’t feature a fence, and Davis and the Cogs (2-1) took full advantage of that.

Kaylee Luepkes had a home run and two doubles as part of a three-hit, four-run, five-RBI performance. Davis also scored four times. Ari Rich and Lily Stiles each had a double and a triple for the Cogs as well. Genoa-Kingston pounded out 19 hits in the win.

“Our girls were just ready to play and hit the ball well today,” G-K coach Andrew Freund said. “We had good hitting and they’re just coming back, so they have a lack of experience.”

The Cogs led 12-0 heading to the bottom of the second. Emma Kuschel pitched a perfect first, but allowed a one-out hit to Cailyn Mrowczynski, the first hit of the decade for the Royals (0-1). She also scored the first run for the rebooted program later in the inning on a groundout by Charli O’Donnell.

The Royals tacked on two more the fourth on just one hit against reliever Savanna Rutkowski, a single by Leeann Brewer. Brewer and Claire Lambes scored the runs.

“I think we had a lot of nerves in the first couple innings, just everyone trying to work each other out,” H-BR coach Abby Christensen said. “We also have to try and decide where we want to place our girls, because we have girls who can play so many different positions. We’re definitely going to adjust our lineup for the next game.”

Kuschel allowed one hit and no earned runs for the Cogs, striking out five and walking one.

Brewer pitched an inning of relief for the Royals, allowing one hit and one run. Brylee Brockway surrendered the rest of the G-K runs, though nine runs of them were unearned.

Christensen said she liked how Brewer pitched in the fourth. Offensively as the team sees more pitches the bats will come around, she said. It also didn’t help that the team opened against a hard-hitting Class 2A program. The Royals had three games postponed or canceled early in the season, making this their opener.

Christensen said she was pleased with how the team responded after the lopsided loss.

“I’m just glad to see they’re in high spirits,” Christensen said. “They’re ready to keep going for the season, and every single one of them is still happy, and that’s what we wanted.”

Brooklynn Ordlock had two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the Cogs. Stiles finished with a pair of runs and two hits, while Rich had two hits, four RBIs and scored four times.

Lyla McKee had three hits and scored three times. Aubree Simon had two RBIs and scored twice. Brynn Bridger scored twice.

The Cogs play four games at a tournament in Jacksonville this weekend, where Davis – sitting at 19 home runs for her career – will have the chance to tie or break the home run record. Davis said she learned from last year when she was approaching the single-season home run record.

“It really got in my head, and I was like, ‘I really have to focus on chasing this,’ ” Davis said. “It really brought me down as a player, because I was way too focused on it. So this year I’m going in as open-minded as I can, and with there being no fence I knew I can hit it hard, I can hit it far, and I have the speed. I was just looking to place it where the fielders weren’t and get around as quick as I could.”