Adalynn Fugitt figures she is going to stay busy at second base with Jaelynn Anthony in the circle.

And that’s A-OK with the Oswego sophomore.

Fugitt fielded the first five outs Anthony retired Friday, and six of the first eight.

Was she tired? Hardly.

“I’m high on adrenaline,” Fugitt said.

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Class 4A Yorkville Sectional final: Plainfield East at Oswego Oswego celebrates with the Class 4A Yorkville Sectional final plaque after winning against Plainfield East. May 29, 2026 in Yorkville. (Gary E Duncan Sr for Shaw Local )

Oswego is feeling the rush again.

The Panthers needed four batters to score two runs. Anthony, and her defense, did the rest. The Purdue recruit provided the early offense herself, struck out seven and only allowed one ball to leave the infield in a 2-0 win over Plainfield East in the Class 4A Yorkville Sectional final.

Defending state champion Oswego (22-11), in winning its third straight sectional, advances to face the winner of Saturday’s Barrington-Huntley game in a 4 p.m. Monday supersectional at Northern Illinois University.

“We all have the same mindset, the same goal,” Anthony said. “It’s step by step to get back there.”

Anthony only allowed two hits, and no outs left the infield. That’s just the way Fugitt, who plays shortstop for her travel team, likes it.

“Jaelynn definitely attacks and she throws really hard, so all of the stuff is going to come to the right side because everyone is always late,” Fugitt said. “I play a lot of shortstop in travel but I love playing second here because that’s where all the balls go.”

It’s nice to have a trusty pair of gloves up the middle, and Anthony has it in Fugitt and shortstop Kennedy Gengler. They were in on 10 outs Friday, and made just one error.

Gengler made a diving catch of Marie Marcum’s wicked liner leading off the fourth, and snagged a tricky knuckleball off the bat of Giselle Ascencio to start the seventh.

“Knowing you have a field behind you that is going to lay their body on the line and do whatever it takes to catch the ball and get the out makes all the difference,” said Oswego coach Annie Scaramuzzi, herself a former pitcher. “It allows you to throw freely, not feel so tense.”

It looked like it would be anything but tense for Oswego at the outset Friday.

Fugitt, who had two hits, hit a bloop double just over the shortstop leading off the bottom of the first. Sophie Morland bunted for a hit and took second when nobody covered the bag.

Betsy Jack walked to load the bases, and Anthony ground a single in the hole to bring in two.

“Didn’t try to do too much,” Anthony said. “Just keep the moment small and something big will happen.”

“We came out hot,” Fugitt said.

Plainfield East sophomore Jocelyn Cushard, linchpin to the program’s first sectional final team, kept her cool. She retired the next three batters to keep the score at 2-0, and the game settled into a pitchers’ duel.

Cushard struck out five and allowed just three hits and four baserunners after the first.

“Obviously, we made some uncharacteristic mistakes there that we normally don’t do, but I’m proud with how she stayed composed,” Plainfield East coach Rebekah Grimes said. “She comes back that much harder. She’s a true competitor. She understands the situation and doesn’t let it get too big.”

Nothing doing against Anthony, though.

Layla Iverson, who had two hits, singled to lead off the sixth, and after a sacrifice bunt Marcum walked. But Anthony retired the next two, putting out the Bengals’ biggest threat.

“The balls that we did hit, to their credit, their infielders made some great plays,” Grimes said. “She was pushing more to the outside corners and while we were getting contact it wasn’t barrel contact.”

Anthony, who threw five innings of shutout relief in Oswego’s 3-2 win over Plainfield East in April, didn’t pitch as much during the regular season in favor of Fugitt.

She’s been money at playoff time.

Anthony has allowed just one unearned run over her last 26 innings pitched, and threw her second playoff shutout Friday.

“Definitely haven’t pitched as much, and I’m OK with that. 100%, it’s helped,” Anthony said. “I tend to get into a rhythm, and that’s what happens. We were ready for anything that came to us.”

Next up is an interesting choice for Anthony.

She could face Huntley, who has four of her summer teammates, or a 35-0 Barrington team that Anthony and Oswego beat in last year’s Class 4A state championship game.

“It will be fun either way,” she said. “Sending my teammates back home to practice for summer or beating Barrington again.”