Kaneland, Sycamore baseball to clash for sectional title; Kaneland softball also seeks supersectional berth

Since the Kaneland and Sycamore baseball teams last met April 29, the Knights and Spartans have gone a combined 29-3.

It will be 30-4 after the teams meet for the third and final time at 11 a.m. Saturday in the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional championship game. The winner advances to face either Morton or Washington in the Geneseo Supersectional at 6 p.m. Monday at Richmond Hill Park.

“I think it will be fun,” Sycamore junior Kiefer Tarnoki said. “It will be the deciding game of our season series. They’re our conference rival, obviously. It will be a fun game. Like, a really fun game.”

The Spartans won the first meeting, 6-4, at Kaneland, with the Knights coming back two days later for a 3-2 win. Sycamore (27-5) reached Saturday’s sectional title game by erasing a six-run deficit against St. Francis to win, 9-7.

Kaneland (23-8) reached the finals by handing Dixon its third loss of the year, a club Sycamore also belongs to after the Spartans beat the Dukes late in the regular season.

The Knights are 13-2 since the back-to-back games against the Spartans, with their losses coming to Normal West and Metea Valley.

“I think we just keep proving to ourselves over and over again, even down to our last out the other day, bases loaded, nobody out in a tie game in the bottom of the seventh,” said Kaneland coach Brian Aversa, referring to the team’s regional title win. “And our guys respond to that and get out of that kind of jam.

“We’ve been tested all year, and we’ve kind of been in situations and scenarios where we know we can succeed, even when they’re tough. Our guys are believing right now and it’s a great place to be.”

Even with the series split, Sycamore ended up winning the Interstate 8 Conference this year. Sycamore coach Jason Cavanaugh said he felt like the Spartans should have won both games, with Sycamore committing four errors in the loss. But he also said Kaneland probably feels like it should have won both games.

“We’re very familiar with each other,” Cavanaugh said. “I think both teams will probably tell you they feel like they should have won both games. We felt like we should have beat them twice, Kaneland probably feels like they should have beat us twice. So I’m looking forward to Saturday. It’s going to be a great game, and winner goes to the supersectional.”

Softball sectional title on line: The Kaneland softball team also will be looking for a sectional title, facing Belvidere North in the title tilt of the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional at 4:30 p.m. Friday. The winner heads to Kaneland for a supersectional Monday against either Antioch or Wauconda.

The Knights will look for a supersectional berth with a win over Belvidere North, the first meeting between the two teams this year.

Kaneland (18-12) knocked off Sterling in the sectional semifinal in what coach Mike Kuefler called the team’s most complete game of the year.

“We worked hard with these kids, through a lot of frustration through the year,” Kuefler said. “For them to bring it together is huge for us at the right time.”