Wilmington freshman Emilie Strong stepped up to the batter’s box in perhaps the biggest spot of her young varsity career during Tuesday’s Illinois Central Eight Conference game against Manteno.

In the bottom of the seventh inning of a tie game with one out and two runners on, Strong lifted a fly ball to right field that sent Molly Southall back to tag up at third. Manteno’s Amiya Carlile caught the ball on a dead sprint right at the foul line, her third excellent running catch of the game, but was unable to slow her momentum quickly enough for a timely throw home.

Southall came in to score and give the Wildcats a 3-2 win, their 14th win in a row, and a key sweep of the Panthers in a series between conference heavyweights that more than lived up to its billing.

“When I got up, I was just breathing and had to keep my normal swing,” Strong said. “Once I hit it, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ I was happy that I got to get that winning run. ...

“For these past few wins, it’s just been a team effort.”

Strong is one of two freshmen, along with Taylor Tenn, that have found themselves in the starting lineup of a Wildcats (14-3, 7-0 ICE) team that brought back nine of its 10 players from last season’s 23-7 squad. She’s looking right at home in the heart of the order and behind the plate as the starting catcher.

Wilmington head coach Jack Skole said Strong’s impact on both sides of the ball were vital to the sweep of the Panthers, even if the biggest impact she had in Monday’s 7-5 win didn’t appear in the box score.

“Beyond the hitting, defensively behind the plate she’s been amazing,” he said. “Like yesterday, she had three blocks that prevented them from getting an extra base and prevented them from scoring two runs. That was the difference in the game.”

Wilmington struck first in Tuesday’s series finale, with Madisyn Rossow singling sharply to center field to drive in Nina Egizio.

The Panthers (11-3, 6-2) responded two innings later with a sac fly from pitcher Mady Dye in the fourth that sent Ginny Kvasnicka home with the tying run.

Each team scored in the fifth, with Manteno scoring on an RBI groundout from Aubrie Goudreau and Wilmington evening things back up an an RBI single from Egizio. Southall walked to open the bottom half, and after a one-out single from Egizio moved Southall to third, Strong sent her home.

Wilmington’s Lexi Strohm picked up the win and held Manteno to its second-lowest run total of the season by allowing just five hits and striking out four over seven innings.

After a split with eventual ICE champion Manteno last season and a later split with Coal City ended the Wildcats’ hopes for a conference title, Strohm said these last two wins were big steps toward one of the team’s goals.

“It’s my senior year, and for us seniors conference was our first big step,” she said. “The next step is probably 20 wins or more, and then after that regionals. In the past it’s always been tight games with Manteno and splitting with them, and them going on runs to get them first in conference, so securing these two wins really gets us on that path.”

Wilmington and Manteno could possibly meet again in the postseason as part of a stacked sub-sectional in the IHSA Class 2A Pontiac Sectional that features perennial powers Beecher and Seneca as well as Bishop McNamara, Coal City, Herscher, Peotone and Reed-Custer.

While these last two losses have certainly been disappointing for a Manteno team that had won 10 in a row heading into Monday, head coach Josh Carlile said these games will only make them better prepared for that challenging playoff pool.

“Anytime you get a challenge, it’s an opportunity for people to step forward and show their true colors,” he said. “That helps build when you get into those big moments. And good golly, you look at our sectional, and you’re looking at five, six, seven teams that are in the top 20 of the state.

“You’re going to have to be ready to go even in the first-round game, because somebody could put you out. They’re going to be that good.”