Woodstock North gave up 39 runs in its first two games, both losses, but the Thunder didn’t allow that to dampen their spirits.

“The first two games were really rough,” said senior Makayla Nordahl, who pitches and plays first base. “So just moving on from that. Our attitudes are better. If we make a mistake, just drop it and move on.”

The Thunder haven’t made many mistakes since, and in fact are enjoying one of their better starts in school history.

Nordahl pitched a five-hit shutout Thursday, as North got timely hits, played flawless defense and defeated Richmond-Burton 8-0 in the teams’ Kishwaukee River Conference game in Woodstock.

It was the seventh win in a row for the Thunder, who improved to 7-2 and kept their perfect KRC record intact at 5-0.

“We’re really close,” said senior catcher Kylie Stevens, who threw out a baserunner at second base in the fifth, an inning in which the Rockets put their first four runners on base but did not score. “I think our main strength right now is our defense. We’re just able to get those quick outs.”

Nordahl struck out six and walked four in the win, junior Kylee Nicholson was 3 for 4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBIs, and senior Allyson Schaid added a pair of hits, two runs scored and drove in one. Junior Maddie Nordahl tallied two hits and two runs at leadoff.

North scored a pair of unearned runs in the third against R-B starter Chase Cooper (three strikeouts, five walks), who gave up eight runs (four earned) on nine hits in her six innings of work.

In the fifth, Nicholson had an RBI hit to score Allyson Schaid. Nicholson later came around to score on a bases-loaded walk by Kylee Jordan. Nicholson had the game’s lone extra-base hit, a double in the sixth to bring home Schaid.

North added four runs on four hits in the sixth, with two of the runs unearned. For the game, R-B committed five errors.

The Rockets’ best chance of scoring came in the fifth when their first four hitters – Bre Warren (walk), Mattie Furzland (single), Kacie Taylor (single) and Ruby Gregurich (infield hit) – all reached base. But Stevens threw out Warren stealing second base, and North later threw out pinch runner Cam Lindholm trying to take third.

North senior Addy Crabill had two line-drive snags at third base, and the Thunder pulled off a 4-3 double play in the first inning when second baseman Aly Jordan leaped in the air to grab a hard-hit ball by R-B’s Rebecca Lanz and threw to first base to retire the baserunner, who was on the move from first to second.

“We’re going to stay true to our philosophy,” R-B coach Tylar Stanton said. “In the first (inning), if that ball is six inches higher, it’s a 1-0 game. I’ll take ownership on that all day if the girls come back and think they did something wrong. We’re going to play aggressive.

“We missed a couple of signs that got us in some negative situations. We’re not a power-hitting team. We’re gonna play a small ball, speed type of game, where we have to hope for timely hits. We didn’t have any today.”

Richmond-Burton was led by Gregurich’s 2-for-3 day at the plate. The Rockets (6-11, 1-4) didn’t have any extra-base hits against Nordahl.

“She’s been getting ahead in count a lot, which has been great,” said Thunder first-year coach Gwen Malecke, who graduated from Hampshire in 2020. “She’s a pitcher where she gets better throughout the game. She learns from each batter each time they’re up and switches it up to make sure she’s still effective.”

Stevens’ arm behind the plate has also been an early-season difference-maker for North.

“She’s aggressive, and I really like that about her,” Malecke said. “She can anticipate what’s going to happen, where the runners are going to be. I think she kind of scares them sometimes, surprises them like, ‘Oh, you’re not going to throw,’ and then she does. She’s a wonderful leader, wonderful catcher, so definitely going to miss her next year.”