The IHSA softball state series has reached the sectional stage, and six teams from the Rockford area were still alive headed in, including a pair of teams that were set to take on another pair from the area.
That could even set up a rematch of two powerhouse Rockford-area teams for a sectional championship.
After winning the program’s 10th regional title last week, the Stillman Valley Cardinals are now taking aim at their third sectional title. They super-charged their road there with a 5-3 win over Aurora Central Catholic in Tuesday’s Class 2A Marengo Sectional.
“As long as we keep on winning,” Stillman Valley (29-5) head coach Shawn Byers, “we’ll just keep having fun.”
North Boone was scheduled to take on Oregon in the other Marengo Sectional semifinal at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday. (Check back here on Wednesday night for the results.) That winner will face Stillman Valley in the sectional final at 4:30 p.m. Friday. North Boone, which has placed at state each of the past two years, beat Stillman Valley 4-1 in last year’s sectional semis.
And North Boone has defeated Oregon 7-1 and 11-0 already this season.
“We’ve been basically expecting this ― we’ve been expecting to face North Boone in another sectional final,” Byers said. “They’ve beaten us the last two times, so we’re due.”
Aurora Central Catholic (10-21) dropped nine in a row to start the season and lost eight of 11 leading up to the playoffs. But this is a team that played up a class or two much of the season. And they were ready for Stillman Valley.
But the Cardinals got 16 strikeouts from freshman pitcher Kaiya Hildreth, and Mackenzi Shere, who cracked a three-run homer that ended the regional-final game on the 10-run rule, smacked two more home runs in this one. Hildreth also went 2-for-3 with a run scored at the plate.
“We’re playing good ball right now,” Byers added. “Let’s see if we can keep that up.”
Dakota 8, Milledgeville 6
Dakota is on the verge of returning to the state softball tournament, after placing fourth in 1A last year. After falling behind early on, Dakota (26-4) rallied hard, taking a 5-1 lead. The Missiles battled back, but Dakota will now take on Fulton in the 1A Eastland Sectional final at 5:30 p.m. Friday. That winner will play in Monday’s super-sectional in Sterling.
Barrington 6, Hononegah 1
After Belvidere North fell 6-1 last week to Kaneland, Belvidere lost 4-3 to Geneva, and Harlem lost 3-0 to Huntley ― all in regional-final showdowns ― Hononegah then bowed out in Tuesday’s 4A sectional semi as the final NIC-10 team to go down.
Hononegah (26-7) could not get the bats going in this one, despite a .390 team batting average headed in. Kaelyn Kelly led the way with a .457 batting average and 26 RBIs. Irelyn O’Brien came in hitting .443 with 27 RBIs.
But undefeated Barrington (35-0) was too much. Barrington ace Katie Taraschewsk climbed to 29-0 by holding down Hononegah.
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: Stillman Valley, Dakota softball stay alive, but Hononegah bows out
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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