Belvidere North and Harlem went to battle on the softball and baseball diamonds over the past three days with a lot on the line as the NIC-10 seasons get very interesting down the backstretch.
And North’s victory on the softball diamond, as well as Harlem’s doubleheader sweep on the baseball side of things, set the stage for an exciting final two weeks of the regular season.
“It’s sure getting fun,” Belvidere North softball head coach Jason Yakey said. “We are just checking off one box at a time, and we’re not looking too far ahead. But the playoffs are coming up quick.”
The IHSA softball and baseball sectional seeds are expected to be unveiled over the next two Tuesdays, starting with the Class 1A and 2A seeds this week.
But before the playoffs arrive, Belvidere North will battle with Hononegah and Harlem for the NIC-10 softball bragging rights, while Harlem and Hononegah head down the backstretch as the only two undefeated baseball teams left in the league.
Here’s what to watch for as both races unfold:
Huskies stay out front in baseball
Harlem (17-6-1, 10-0 NIC-10) stay undefeated in league play after taking two from Belvidere North (10-9-1, 5-5). Harlem knocked off North 3-2 in eight innings at home on Friday, on a walkoff walk from Wes Penney. Then on Monday night, the Huskies got a two-run home run from Finn Stovall, and a gem on the mound from Jackson Heidemann, to pull out a 2-0 win over the Blue Thunder.
“We’ve won games in multiple ways this season, and lately we’ve had to pitch really well,” Harlem head coach Scott McCloy said. “I think we can play even better. We’ll see.”
Harlem, which has won 10 games in a row, hosts Hononegah (19-5, 10-0), which has won nine in a row, on May 15, before traveling to Rockton on May 18 in two games that will most likely decide the NIC-10 title.
“One at a time,” McCloy said. “Our senior leaders will keep us focused.”
So far this year, Harlem’s star seniors have notched some pretty impressive milestones.
Stovall, who now has seven homers and is hitting .515, recently passed David Rydberg for No. 1 on Harlem’s all-time hits list with 128. And Heidemann, who is 7-1 this season with 76 strikeoukts, just set the school record for career strikeouts, and is just two wins away from that school record as well. Stovall also already set the career RBI mark at 98.
NIC-10 baseball standings (as of May 4)
Blue Thunder stay in softball race
Belvidere North (12-6, 10-1) got a three-run homer from junior catcher Chloe Schadle, who went 3-for-3 in the game, and pulled out the extra-inning win over Harlem (17-6, 10-2) last Thursday. The home-and-away battle wraps up at North in Belvidere on Wednesday.
As for Hononegah (14-5, 8-1): it hosts North on Monday and Harlem on May 13, and then travels to Guilford on May 15. Guilford is the only NIC-10 team to beat Hononegah so far this year.
Clearly, the next week-plus will decide who walks away with the NIC-10 softball title, and who heads into the playoffs with the most momentum.
“We’re kind of gelling right now,” Yakey said of his Blue Thunder team that starts four freshmen. “We’re young, but everything is coming together at just the right time. They’re just really good at picking each other up.”
NIC-10 softball standings (as of May 4)
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Belvidere North, Harlem make late pushes in NIC-10 softball, baseball
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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