Softball notes: Crystal Lake South’s Alexis Pupillo makes every at-bat count

Whenever Alexis Pupillo gets a chance to hit, the Crystal Lake South senior makes it count.

Through Wednesday’s games, the Gators senior slugger is hitting .705 (43 of 61) and leads area players with 14 home runs, along with three triples, 13 doubles, 51 runs and 31 RBIs in 23 games. Only 13 of her hits have been singles.

Opposing teams have been careful when pitching to Pupillo, with some choosing not to pitch to her at all. The NCAA Division I Northern Iowa commit has drawn a walk exactly 1/3 of the time (32 walks in 96 plate appearances).

Many times, Pupillo has been sent to first base without seeing a pitch.

[ Read more: Kennedy Grippo tosses gem for Crystal Lake South in FVC win against McHenry ]

In a Fox Valley Conference game against Dundee-Crown on May 2, Pupillo ripped a double in her first at-bat and was intentionally walked three times. She turned those free passes into three steals and, for the season, has been caught only once in 21 attempts.

Even when she doesn’t get a chance to swing the bat, Pupillo can impact a game.

“I don’t take it as an insult,” Pupillo said. “The approach and the mindset I have is, ‘OK, I’m just going to get better at base running.’ If I have three intentional walks, I’m going to get three stolen bases. I’m going to be more aggressive and make them pay that way.”

Gators coach Patrick Kelly has been impressed by the way Pupillo has handled the way teams have pitched (or not pitched) to her. She struck out for the first time all spring in the Gators’ 20th game of the season on May 5 against Crystal Lake Central.

“If people put her on, she’s quick,” Kelly said. “And hopefully we can makes teams pay when they do that. She is really taking advantage of her at-bats and she’s really making the most of the season. It’s amazing and so fun to watch.

“It’s really cool to see a kid who works as hard as she does. It’s been such a pleasure to coach her and see her find all that success.”

Major award: Huntley senior pitcher Jori Heard was named one of MaxPreps.com’s High School Players of the Week for games played between May 2 and 8. Heard took the North Region honor after going 4-0 with three shutouts and 58 strikeouts over 26 innings.

All four victories were complete-game shutouts for the Valparaiso commit.

Heard tossed an eight-inning no-hitter against Kaneland with 16 strikeouts and whiffed 16 in a 8-0 win over Burlington Central. She tallied 14 strikeouts in a 4-0 win against Hononegah and 12 strikeouts in a 10-0 win against Cary-Grove.

On the season, Heard is 20-5 with a 0.47 ERA and 315 strikeouts and 15 walks in 148 2/3 innings. She also leads Huntley with a .467 batting average.

Huntley’s FVC dominance: Huntley (24-5, 16-0) captured back-to-back FVC titles with a 10-0 win over Hampshire on Tuesday and extended its conference winning streak to 41 straight games with a 12-0 win against Dundee-Crown on Wednesday.

The Raiders, who last lost an FVC contest on May 1, 2019, are trying to go undefeated in FVC play for the second consecutive year. Huntley has outscored its FVC opponents, 188-6, in 16 games with 11 shutouts.

Rockets’ 3-peat: Richmond-Burton defeated Harvard, 11-7, on Wednesday to secure the Kishwaukee River Conference championship outright, the Rockets’ third straight conference title. A loss to the Hornets would have split the title between the Rockets and Marengo.

The Rockets (15-4, 9-1) are 27-5 in KRC play over the past three seasons. R-B split the KRC title with Johnsburg last season and won it outright in 2019. There was no 2020 season because of the pandemic.

The Rockets own the most KRC titles since the conference’s inaugural season in 2017. Marengo has two.

Ready for the playoffs: The IHSA released the postseason pairings for Class 1A and 2A teams last week and 3A and 4A on Wednesday. Playoffs start Monday for 1A and 2A teams, and the following week for 3A and 4A.

Marengo, which saw its streak of 13 regional titles end last season, earned a No. 1 seed in 2A, while R-B grabbed a No. 2.

Burlington Central (No. 2) got the highest seed for area teams in 3A, followed by Prairie Ridge (No. 3).

Huntley is a top seed in 4A, and McHenry is No. 2.

Full postseason pairings can be found at IHSA.org.

Home run tracker: Crystal Lake South’s Pupillo, R-B’s Taylor Davison and Johnsburg’s Brooke Klosowicz all hit homers for their teams Wednesday, as the three big hitters padded their lead among the area’s top sluggers.

Pupillo leads the area with 14 homers, followed by Davison (11) and Klosowicz (10).

Marengo’s Mia Lulinski (8) and Kylee Jensen (7) are next on the home run leaderboard.