Woodstock North‘s Allyson Schaid approaches every game, every inning and every at-bat the same. The Thunder senior center fielder and No. 2 hitter doesn’t want to put too much pressure on herself.

She knows if she doesn’t come through, her teammates most likely will.

With her team needing an offensive jolt against Crystal Lake Central sophomore pitcher Lily Perocho on Saturday, the lightning-fast Schaid stepped up.

Schaid lined a one-out triple past a a diving Ella Arana in center field in the bottom of the fourth inning for her team’s first hit, kickstarting a string of hits and runs for the Thunder.

The next five batters reached for the Thunder, who scored four runs on five hits in the inning and rode another dominant start by junior Kylee Nicholson on the way to a 5-2 victory to capture the Class 3A Crystal Lake Central Regional softball championship.

“It was pretty fun, it was pretty awesome,” said Schaid, who slid head first into third base on her one-out triple, scoring on a single to left field by Aly Jordan. “When I go into the (batter’s) box, I always say that it’s just another game. It’s the same three outs, it’s the same everything.

“We needed a spark for sure. We needed something to get going.”

Aly Jordan, Makayla Nordahl, Hailey Campos and Kylee Jordan all had RBI hits in the game-changing fourth, helping North take its first regional title since winning back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023.

The win also tied the school record for most victories in a season with 21. The Thunder (21-5) move on to meet Kaneland in a Belvidere North Sectional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday.

North has never won a sectional title since the school’s opening in 2008.

The Thunder had no hits against Perocho over the first 3⅓ innings.

“We were putting the ball in play, just right at people,” North first-year coach Gwen Malecke said. “I just told them to stick with it, stay aggressive, stay within yourselves. Keep having the same swings and it’ll go through eventually. It’s amazing. This is such a great group of girls. They work so hard every day so I’m super proud of them. They deserve this.”

Nicholson, who tossed a one-hitter in a regional semifinal win over crosstown rival Woodstock North on Tuesday, carried a no-hitter into the seventh. Central’s Logan Grams smacked a homer to center field to lead off the frame. Kacie Krallitsch then followed with a single.

Nicholson retired the final three batters on a fielder’s choice, flyout and strikeout, her 12th of the game. The left-hander allowed two runs (one earned) on just the two hits and two walks.

“She knows where she wants to throw and she gets it to that spot,” Central coach Brian Strombom said. “That’s the hardest part. She doesn’t miss pitches. She was throwing first-pitch strikes almost all game.”

Nicholson and Makayla Nordahl in the circle helped lead the Thunder to their first Kishwaukee River Conference title this spring.

“I was glad that I got to control the way the game ended,” Nicholson said of her 12th strikeout to end the game. “We got so close my freshman year (to winning a regional). It’s a big deal to be a part of this.”

Perocho went all seven innings for Central (9-19), allowing five runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and a walk. The Tigers had been without Perocho and Oli Victorine for much of the past month, Perocho dealing with a toe injury and Victorine out for the season with a stress fracture in her back.

Without their aces, the Tigers struggled down the stretch.

They survived a 6-5, eight-inning thriller on Wednesday over Crystal Lake South in their regional semifinal, winning on a walk-off hit by Kylie Gibbons.

“It felt great to be back,” said Perocho, who pitched all eight innings against South. “Representing Central is a very big deal to me, just having the confidence in myself and my team to go out there and make plays. I felt confident.”

Ella Arana, the team’s starting center fielder who also saw time in the circle as the team dealt with pitching injuries, had a walk, steal and run scored for Central, scoring on a hard-hit ball by Perocho that deflected off the glove of the second baseman with two outs in the top of the first inning.

Cassidy Murphy, one of two seniors on Central with Audriana Moore, had a walk in her final high school at-bat. Murphy and her teammates took a team photo behind the Tigers’ home dugout following the season-ending loss.

“It felt more personal to have the game here,” Murphy said. “It’s just a lot of fun to be in these kind of moments. I think there’s so much potential for them next year with Oli getting better and Lily getting better. I think the sky is the limit.”

North sophomore right fielder Hailey Campos, who had a run-scoring single in the fourth and run-scoring double in the sixth, said the Thunder will continue to play as they have all season.

“We just keep our energy high, nothing brings us down,” Campos said. “I feel like we can go against anybody.”