Dakota is back on the doorstep of the state softball tournament in Class 1A, and in 2A, Stillman Valley exacted a little revenge over North Boone while winning a sectional title on Friday night.
Dakota (28-4) took fourth at state last year in 1A softball, and is looking to not only get back, but attempt to place in the top three this time. They pounded on Fulton 8-2 in the 1A Eastland Sectional final on May 29, and now they will take on Biggsville West Central in the Sterling Super-Sectional at 4:30 p.m. Monday. That winner heads to the 1A state tournament inside Peoria’s Louisville Slugger Stadium on June 4 and June 6.
“This team wants more,” Dakota head coach Jeff Kinney said. “And they’re playing good right now. This was kind of a pressure-filled season, but they took care of business, and they rose to the occasion.”
As did Stillman Valley (30-5), which lost to North Boone (31-6) in last year’s sectionals, but returned the favor with an 11-5 win in the sectional finals on Friday. The Cardinals hit four home runs for the second game in a row, getting two from Sydney Musial.
“This one just depended on who was hot that day,” Stillman Valley head coach Shawn Byers said. “And this time, it was us.”
Musial smashed her first home run to leadoff the game, and her second one in her next at-bat. She went 3-for-3 with two RBIs, and Sage Sweet homered and went 3-for-4 wtih three RBIs, while Mylee Hulstedt homered and was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
And now Stillman Valley is into the super-sectionals for the first time since 2015 and 2016. The Cardinals will play the winner of the Elmhurst IC Catholic Sectional at 4:30 p.m. Monday in Lisle, with that winner heading to the 2A state tournament in Peoria on June 4 and June 6.
“Our hitting has just been contagious,” Byers said. “This team is really hitting the ball hard.”
Dakota got a three-run home run from Brynlee Sickles, and AJ Howarth pitched a gem, and also had two singles at the plate to spark the six-run victory.
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 outlasts North Boone, and Dakota wins sectional title
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
