Woodstock North’s Allyson Schaid and the Thunder have been riding a high all year.

And the first-time Kishwaukee River Conference champions don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

“It’s definitely awesome,” Schaid said of the program’s first KRC title. “Especially starting since freshman year and you don’t get a single one. And then your senior year, you go out with a bang.”

Schaid was in the middle of many big bangs Friday against Richmond-Burton, driving balls to the fence in three of her four plate appearances. The senior hit the bottom of the fence in center field in the fifth inning and finished 3 for 4 with two doubles, a triple, two runs scored and an RBI.

Junior left-hander Kylee Nicholson struck out 11, and the Thunder moved closer to a perfect KRC softball season with a 7-0 victory over the Rockets in Richmond. It’s the third shutout in a row for North, which has outscored opponents 36-0.

North (17-3, 12-0), which has gone 17-1 since an 0-2 start, wrapped up its first KRC championship earlier this week, and the Thunder aren’t far away from the breaking the program’s record for wins in a season, set two years ago with 21.

“It’s such a big deal because I feel like a lot of the time we’ve been underestimated,” said Nicholson, a Western Illinois commit who allowed only two baserunners in five innings. “I think we’re a lot better than what people see, and I think this proves it. It’s our first time in school history (winning the KRC title) and it feels very nice to be a part of it.”

North has averaged more than eight runs a game this year with a lineup featuring seven left-handed hitters on most days. Schaid, who batted second Friday, is one of the two regular right-handers.

The four-year varsity starter joked that her approach Friday was to “Go yard,” and she came within a few feet of a three-homer game. She smacked a triple over left fielder Marley Stein’s head in the top of the third to score Maddie Nordahl (2 for 4, two stolen bases) and beat the return throw as she dove head first into third, giving the Thunder a 2-0 lead.

Her first-inning double to center field also almost went out.

North scored single runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth innings and added three in the seventh against Rockets starter Chase Cooper, who allowed three earned runs on 13 hits with six strikeouts and no walks.

R-B (13-12, 7-5) committed four errors in the field. The Rockets had won seven games in a row entering Friday.

“She’s been a workhorse for us all year,” R-B coach Tylar Stanton said of Cooper, who stranded eight runners, at least one in every inning. “We had some high expectations at the beginning of the year, and she’s succeeded those. She carries herself very well in the circle. Unfortunately we had too many mistakes behind her.

“But during this last little streak, even if we gave up a rough inning, we were able to bounce back with our bats. Our bats just didn’t help our defense today and our defense didn’t help our pitching today.”

Nicholson came into the game in the third and took the place of starter Makayla Nordahl (two hits allowed, one strikeout). She had multiple strikeouts in four of her five innings, including three in the sixth.

“It’s been (Nicholson) and Makayla (Nordahl) all year for us,” North first-year coach Gwen Malecke said. “Anytime they need to go in for each other, they’ve both been amazing. Just being able to come in without much warm-up, she did amazing today.”

Nicholson went 3 for 4 with three singles and two RBIs, Hailey Campos had two hits and two runs, and Morgan Goldman was 2 for 3 with a two-run double in the seventh for North. Kylee Jordan added an RBI sacrifice fly. Rebecca Lanz, Gracie Johnson and Maddy Hanson all had singles for R-B.

North has four regular season games remaining before the start of the Class 3A playoffs.

“I think we can adjust to anything thrown at us,” Nicholson said.