Brailyn Naylor is Riverside-Brookfield’s do-all player.

The sophomore outfielder has tremendous strength and can hit home runs. She has the speed and bat control to beat out bunts and slap.

Naylor frequently hits leadoff, but on Saturday she was slotted sixth.

“She can hit anywhere, or do anything, depending on the day,” R-B coach Emma Jarrell said. “She really does it all.”

Naylor sparked two Bulldogs’ rallies Saturday with leadoff singles, and eventually scored the go-ahead run.

R-B rallied from a four-run deficit to beat York 10-6 in a nonconference game at Elmhurst.

Naylor, who had three hits, does not care where she hits, or what she is asked to do. Just the bottom line.

“Kind of just do what is best for the team,” Naylor said. “It’s never about yourself. You have to contribute to the team. Where I hit, it doesn’t change my mentality. You have to be confident in yourself.”

With R-B (21-2) trailing 5-1 after Emily McNichols’ three-run homer for York (15-12) in the second, Naylor singled to lead off the R-B fourth.

Sophia Runquist singled her in, Ryzewski doubled in Runquist and after Mia Melendez was intentionally walked Trinity Stevenson singled in the tying and go-ahead runs.

Lilly Burda’s solo homer for York in the bottom half of the fourth tied it 6-6, but Naylor fueled another R-B rally in the fifth.

She singled with one out, took second on a passed ball and third on a wild pitch, and scored on Reese Milchhoefer’s sacrifice fly for a 7-6 Bulldogs’ lead.

“It relieves pressure off of her going into the spot that’s not leadoff, depending on who we play,” Jarrell said. “And it puts a nice, versatile person in the middle of the lineup. She’s so strong and fast.”

Naylor was one of the R-B sophomores who starred for the Brookfield Little League 12-Under All-Star team that won the Majors state championship in the summer of 2023.

That sophomore class, including Melendez – who homered Saturday – and Amelia Pytel helped lead the Bulldogs to 24 wins and a regional title as freshmen.

Now R-B is ranked 11th in the latest Illinois Softball Coaches Association poll, just completed a 5-0 week with a big 1-0 win over Glenbard East and earned the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Marist Sectional.

“We had a super long week this week, four games in a row, yesterday we gave them off and we started off not so well,” Jarrell said. “But a huge comeback. Credit to them to be mentally tough to come back.”

Jarrell gave huge credit to Milchhoefer.

She relieved Pytel in the second inning after R-B’s ace gave up the three-run homer to McNichols and held a good York lineup to one run over the last six innings.

“She got the game ball,” Jarrell said. “Went in relaxed and did a good job.”

York, trailing 7-6, put two runners on in the fifth, and again in the sixth when Burda was intentionally walked after Myka Matykiewicz’s one-out double.

But the Dukes couldn’t push the tying run across, and left two more runners on base in the bottom of the seventh after R-B scored three in the top half.

“Just couldn’t get some of those runs in,” York coach Lisa Fraticola said. “Runners on base, didn’t get the clutch hit.”

Burda’s homer was her 11th and McNichols’ her seventh for a York team with 39 homers.

“MaxPreps has us second in the state. The homers have been coming once a game it feels like,” Fraticola said. “We’ve hit them in Rosemont inside the dome, hit them here, on the road anywhere.

“I believe our schedule has prepared us. We have a couple injuries we’re working through with our pitchers. Hopefully kids come back stronger next week.”

R-B has a big week ahead with St. Laurence, Upstate Eight-leading South Elgin and a game with Fremd added.

“We went 5-0 this week, which is definitely hard. You have to be mentally tough to play five games with no breaks,” Naylor said. “This will prepare us for the playoffs. Got to keep rolling.”