Kennedy Gengler’s clutch hit completes Oswego’s late rally past Yorkville in sectional thriller

OSWEGO – Kennedy Gengler needed just one swing off Oswego ace Jaelynn Anthony this spring to sell co-coach Annie Scaramuzzi.

“She took one swing off Jae in tryouts hitting live and I said ‘I want her,’” Scaramuzzi said. “She hits fast pitching so well. And she’s going to have competitive at-bats.”

Gengler, Oswego’s junior shortstop, endured the ups and downs of a first varsity season. So, too, the highs and lows of Tuesday’s game, her throwing error allowing Yorkville’s two runs to score.

But that bat played when it counted.

Gengler turned on a two-strike pitch with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and doubled in the tying and go-ahead runs. It completed Oswego’s three-run rally past upset-minded Yorkville for a 3-2 win in the Class 4A Oswego Sectional semifinal.

Gengler came to the plate with runners on second and third, after Sabrina Zamora had drove in Oswego’s first run.

She got to two strikes, fouled off a pitch, then delivered the big hit to send top-seeded Oswego into Friday’s sectional final.

The Panthers, third in the state last year, will play the Wheaton North-Wheaton Warrenville South winner.

“I didn’t watch it, I didn’t even know where it went,” Gengler said. “I just knew off the bat it was a solid hit.”

It helped Oswego (34-2) overcome Yorkville’s unorthodox strategy of rotating three pitchers that kept the Panthers at bay for five innings.

Yorkville (24-13) threw Peyton Levine, Ellie Fox and Isabella Rosauer, and switched pitchers in the middle of five out of the six innings.

Rosauer, a freshman who first pitched in the third, fourth and fifth innings, relieved Fox after Zamora’s hit.

“It was just strategy,” Gengler said. “A good strategy on there part to try it.”

Gengler had faced Rosauer in her previous at-bat.

“That definitely helped,” Gengler said. “I knew what I was going to be seeing.”

Yorkville had used two of its three pitchers in both regular-season meetings, Oswego wins.

But all three did their part in slowing down an Oswego offense averaging over 10 runs per game.

“It was a hard ask what I asked them to do today, about as tough as you’re going to ask a pitcher to do is put them in not knowing when they’re coming out and not knowing when they’re coming back in. But they freaking bought in,” Yorkville coach Jory Regnier said.

“We thought that by throwing all three it would give us our best chance to keep them off-balance and not be as consistent with one pitcher.”

And for five innings, it worked.

“We expected to see all three pitchers today,” Scaramuzzi said. “We didn’t expect it to go like that.”

The start to Tuesday’s game didn’t go as planned for Oswego, either. Oswego had a runner thrown out at the plate in the first, and Yorkville scored two in the second without a hit.

Two hit batters sandwiched around an error loaded the bases with one out. Yorvklle’s Kayla Kersting hit a hard smash to Gengler at shortstop, but the throw home was wide off Oswego catcher Kiyah Chavez’s glove, and two runs scored.

Anthony, though, shut the door after that, getting back-to-back strikeouts to strand runners at second and third. She took a no-hitter into the fifth and struck out 12.

“I just wanted to win. Our season was on the line,” Anthony said. “The game is not over until the game is over.”

Anthony was proud that Gengler could atone for her error, not that the junior shortstop was thinking about redemption.

“No, I wasn’t thinking about it,” Gengler said. “I knew I had to play for my team and not be selfish like that.”

Gengler, also Oswego’s backup catcher, began the season starting at shortstop.

She was out of the lineup with some defensive struggles for a spell, but has started the last 11 games.

Scaramuzzi said Gengler has an “absolute cannon” for an arm at shortstop, with the bat to boot.

“Having that strong arm at shortstop is a difference-maker for us,” Scaramuzzi said. “We had played around a little bit with the middle of the infield. But she does so good at practice, and she hits good pitching.”

Anthony just beat out a potential inning-ending double play in the sixth to keep Oswego’s rally alive down 2-0.

Oswego’s Rikka Ludvigson got to two strikes, but took two nasty changeups for balls from Fox to draw a walk.

“Great pitches,” Regnier said. “Sometimes you get the call and sometimes you don’t.”

Zamora followed with a bloop hit to short left just inside the baseline, setting the stage for Gengler’s heroics.

“We were feeling the pressure a little bit,” Scaramuzzi said. “But I told them before that sixth inning we had the season we have had because we refuse to lose. If we have that mentality at the plate, we’ll be just fine.”