Ava Morris, Belvidere North too much for Sterling in title game

DIXON – There was just no answer for Belvidere North pitcher Ava Morris in Friday’s Class 3A Dixon Regional championship.

The Blue Thunder sophomore kept Sterling off-balance all afternoon, tossing a two-hit shutout while adding a pair of hits and an RBI in a 4-0 victory over the Golden Warriors at Reynolds Field.

“She’s really been dealing, and our defense has been on point; they’re just locked in,” Belvidere North coach Jason Yakey said. “It was a great game, and the girls just did what they’ve been doing all year now, just finding a way to win.”

[ Photos from 3A Dixon Regional softball final between Sterling and Belvidere North ]

Morris struck out nine and walked three as Belvidere North won its 18th straight game. The Blue Thunder (24-9) advance to next week’s 3A Sycamore Sectional against Prairie Ridge.

Morris stayed around the strike zone and used late movement on her pitches to limit hard contact by the Warriors (19-11). She set down Sterling 1-2-3 in each of the last three innings, and allowed a total of four baserunners.

“I tried to stay with my game, work the zone, stick with the pitches I know how to throw. I’m confident in my ability to know what pitches I need to throw,” Morris said. “I tried to make it so they would have to hit pitches around the plate and not giving them any right down the middle.”

Sterling got a blooper to right and a liner to center, and a few more hard-hit balls found Belvidere North gloves.

“This whole week, we were working on really being disciplined, working on those rise balls we knew she was going to throw. I think we just kind of got wrapped up in the moment today,” senior Kaity Taylor said. “Everyone wanted to hit, and we swung at some [pitches] that we just needed to leave alone. Most of our hard hits were right at them, too. That’s just how the game is sometimes.”

The Blue Thunder scored three runs in the top of the third on a pair of wild pitches and an RBI single by Alexis Murphy. But with the bases loaded and one out, Sterling escaped more damage with a nifty play.

Sophia Garza hit a ground ball to Sterling second baseman Taylor, who threw home to catcher Marley Sechrest for a force out. Sechrest then fired to first in an attempt for a double play, and Belvidere North baserunner Isabelle Schadle rounded third and headed home on that throw. Sterling first baseman Georgia Gallardo returned the throw to Sechrest, who tagged out Schadle for an unconventional inning-ending double play.

Still, the inning relieved the pressure from Morris and her teammates, and the Blue Thunder played loose and confident the rest of the way.

“That was huge, and it took a lot of weight off my shoulders. It was a big inning for us, and the whole team worked well to get those three runs, which took a lot of stress off of us on defense,” Morris said. “I think that we realized what we were playing for here, and we were really focused, just looking for the win.”

The Warriors also got a force out at home in the sixth inning to limit the damage in that frame to Morris’ RBI single, then threw out another runner at the plate on a wild pitch in the seventh. Running catches by all three outfielders – including a sensational diving catch in shallow center field by Lily Cantu – highlighted Sterling’s strong defensive effort.

“We know that every out matters in these games, and sometimes it’s those big plays that get you back in the game and keep them from scoring,” Sechrest said. “I’m proud of what we did on defense. There wasn’t much else that we could do as a defense.”

Sterling starter Lily Martinez and reliever Layla Wright stranded nine Belvidere North runners on base – including six in scoring position – but nine walks and four wild pitches were too much to overcome.

Lily Cantu and Mya Lira had the hits for the Warriors, which had two baserunners in only one inning.

“It kind of felt like we were stuck,” Sechrest said. “It was just a cycle: we’d come in from defense every inning knowing that we could come back, because we’re the team that doesn’t give up – we’ve come back in games all year. We have a lot of heart on our team, and we were really encouraging each other that we could come back, but I just think we were all really anxious up there in the [batter’s] box trying to do too much, and it just didn’t work out for us today.”

It was a tough ending to a solid season for Sterling, as several new faces stepped into the lineup and contributed at the plate and in the field.

“This is a really good group,” Kaity Taylor said. “We’ll get all the way to the sixth of seventh inning and we still are fighting every at-bat, every play in the field; we won’t give up. This team has a good heart.”