Kaleigh Cawthon came to the plate Tuesday in nearly the exact same situation as the last time Plainfield East played Yorkville.

But she was not thinking about it.

“I was just trying to get on base,” Cawthon said.

Plainfield East’s senior center fielder did much more than that. Cawthon lined a two-strike pitch from Yorkville sophomore Bella Rosauer for a one-out solo home run to center field.

It broke up a scoreless game, and fourth-seeded Plainfield East and Jocelyn Cushard went on to take the pitchers’ duel between standout sophomores 2-0 over top-seeded Yorkville and Rosauer in the Class 4A Yorkville Sectional semifinal.

Plainfield East (21-6), in a sectional final for the first time in program history, will face the Oswego-Naperville Central winner on Friday.

The Bengals got here by taking their latest thriller with Yorkville. The Foxes (28-10) won a 1-0 regional final on a walk-off last year.

Plainfield East beat Yorkville 2-1 on May 7, a game in which Cawthon broke up a scoreless tie with a two-run triple in the sixth.

There is no hitter Bengals’ coach Rebekah Grimes would rather have up in that spot than her No. 2 hitter with power. Cawthon’s homer Tuesday was her team-leading sixth.

“I have 1,000% faith in her. No matter what she does her last at bat, it does not matter,” Grimes said. “Her presence, she’s a game-changer. I truly felt so confident.”

Cawthon got behind in the count 0-2, but on the sixth pitch hit a screamer to center that just kept carrying over the fence.

“As soon as it came of the bat it felt good. But I didn’t think it would be a home run,” Cawthon said. “I thought maybe it would be a base hit, it came off the bat in a nice spot.”

The arc of the homer was no accident.

“It’s what we’ve been working on,” Grimes said. “We get ourselves in trouble when we try to lift the ball.”

It was one of the few mistakes made by Rosauer, who struck out seven and allowed four hits and two walks. Plainfield East tacked on a run in the seventh when Tate Morris doubled and scored on Giselle Ascencio.

“My screw and rise were working well, getting good misses,” Rosauer said. “The one she hit a home run off, it happens, pitch low in the zone. She got it.”

Cushard and Rosauer were both on early, neither allowing a hit through three innings. Yorkville freshman Alyssa Muhlbach doubled to lead off the bottom of the fourth, but was thrown out trying to leg it to a triple. Plainfield East, meanwhile, didn’t have a batter reach second base until the fifth.

Yorkville senior catcher Kayla Kersting, an Iowa recruit, thinks Tuesday’s showcase of sophomore pitchers is a preview of things to come.

“It’s going to be a new rivalry,” Kersting said. “Bella, she’s been dominant all postseason. She’s going to do great things these next two years.”

Kersting was 0 for 3 at the plate off Cushard, who only allowed three hits with seven strikeouts and zero walks. Kersting tried to bunt to reach with one out in the sixth, but was narrowly thrown out at first.

“We couldn’t figure it out offensively,” Kersting said. “She’s not really fast but she has spin. She is at that speed level where she can still zing it with movement.

“She has a high ball, she has a little rise flips up top of the zone, umps call it. You have to have that level swing through the zone, couldn’t figure it out.”

Yorkville three times had runners reach second, but Cushard didn’t blink.

She struck out back-to-back batters after Muhlbach reached on an error and stole second in the first. Brooke Ekwinski doubled with one out in the Yorkville fifth and courtesy runner Taylor Jackson stole third, but Cushard kept it scoreless with a strikeout and ground out.

“I just tried to hit my spots and let my defense behind me work,” Cushard said. “My screw was working. I was getting the inside corner from the ump.”

It was the second shutout of the postseason for Cushard, now 17-5.

“Any time she gives up a walk, a hit, anything that doesn’t go her way, she comes back 10 times stronger,” Grimes said. “She got us to this point. The defense behind her, they trust her.”

Grimes grew emotional speaking about a team, with four seniors that were part of a sectional semifinalist two years ago, that is on the cusp of the school’s first sectional title.

“For sure it’s big, just to get here with this group,” Grimes said. “They truly enjoy being around each other. It’s a privilege for them to be able to play together.”