Lincoln-Way West and Lincoln-Way Central softball have been having two very different seasons.

The Warriors dominated the Knights on Friday by a final score of 11-0 at Lincoln-Way Central. West is now 20-5 on the year, while Central is 4-22.

It was the fourth consecutive loss for Lincoln-Way Central and the sixth in seven games. For the Warriors, it was a sixth win in a row and the eighth in the past nine.

The game Friday was symbolic of how things have gone.

For the Warriors, it was a dominant effort both at the plate and in the circle. Catcher Reese Forsythe went 2 for 3 with a home run, Molly Finn went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and a home run, and the Warriors had 12 hits as a whole while striking out just three times.

As for the pitching, Abby Brueggmann allowed two hits and struck out four with no walks allowed, while Jess Noga gave up five hits with no walks as the two combined for a shutout.

“We just got ahead and attacked early,” Forsythe said. “We’ve just been with each other so long, so the bond that we have with each other is really strong.”

Lincoln-Way Central put up seven hits as a team, led by Audrey Hennings with two. They got a runner on third in the seventh, but were unable to score. Still, coach Jeff Tarala feels his team is getting better with each game it plays.

“It’s been a pretty up-and-down season,” Tarala said. “Regardless of wins and losses, we just tell them to trust the process. We’re trying to improve every single game in the batters box or in the field, just improving every game.”

Lincoln-Way West was hot from the start.

Forsythe homered on just the second pitch of the game. After Reese Cusack reached on an error later in the inning, Finn needed just two pitches herself to get her homer and make it a 3-0 game. Noga later scored Holly Smith on a single to extend the lead to 4-0 before the end of the first inning.

After a scoreless second, the fireworks continued in the third. Finn was walked to lead off, and Kaylea Armstrong followed that up with a double. Noga singled to score both of them, making it 6-0.

Forsythe was walked to lead off the fourth, and Finn sent her home on a two-out RBI single shortly after to stretch it to 7-0.

After consecutive outs to start the fifth, Hannah Borchert singled, and Reegan Connolly followed with a double to get two on. Forsythe was up to bat next and reached on a fielding error by the Knights which allowed Borchert and Connolly to turn the score to 9-0.

The sixth was scoreless, but the Warriors added another two in the seventh. Finn singled with two outs to score Addison Adrieansen, and Connolly scored on an error the next at-bat.

“I think we just stayed focused on the things that we could control,” L-W West coach Heather Novak said. “We always talk about doing the little things to be successful. It started in the circle with pitchers doing a great job throwing strikes. The defense made plays behind them, and the bats got going one by one.”

Lincoln-Way Central will next play at Homewood-Flossmoor on Monday, while Lincoln-Way West will host Bradley-Bourbonnais the same day.

Finn believes the team needs to focus on the fundamentals in order to keep on winning.

“I think we need to take quality at-bats and be locked in,” Finn said. “More than we were in the beginning of the season, because this is when it really counts. All our wins count towards postseason seeding, and we want a high seeding so we can make it farther in postseason.”