WHEATFIELD â Kankakee Valley finished last week with an up-down experience, or more accurately, a down-up finish.
The Kats fell to North Newton on Friday, April 30 and emerged victorious on Saturday, May 1, which was also senior day. Both games were at home.
On Friday, the Kougars (7-11) fell behind early as the Spartans plated runs in the first, second and fourth innings with senior Austin Goddard scoring twice and fellow senior Bryce Shedrow notching the other.
Those three runs were all North Newton (8-4) needed. The Spartans had seven hits overall, including two hits by Goddard. He had a double. Patrick Barry also doubled.
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LOWELL â Kankakee Valley remained in the hunt for a Northwest Crossroads Conference softball title by handing host Lowell a 3-1 loss on Monday, April 26.
The Kougars improve to 4-1 in league play and 8-4 overall. It was their third straight win.
KV gave ace pitcher MaryKate Shultz all the offense she would need with two runs in the first inning. The Kougars added a single run in the third and turned the game over to Shultz, who scattered five hits over seven innings with 16 strikeouts and two walks.
Lowellâs run was unearned.
Shultz also helped her cause by going 2 for 3 with a pair of doubles. Carly Basham had an RBI single and JoJo Short had a two-run double in the first inning.
Twenty batters had tried, and there was only one left between Shultz and perfection. In the seventh inning with two outs, she threw three straight balls, Suarez said. I was on the sideline like, Oh my goodness. You re only one out away, please don t blow it. I think she knew the game was going well, but I don t think she realized it was a perfect game. . I never said anything to her about it, and again, I really thought she was going to blow it. But, she came back and got the girl to pop out and end the game.
Highland s coach knew his team was dead in the water â until it wasn t. I was getting ready to tell them, You can t beat good teams like Crown Point and not execute, Bogner said. . Then all of a sudden we started chipping away, and when our last guy got hit (by a pitch) and we ended up winning on a walk off, the guys ran onto the field. I was just yelling, Mask up! Mask up!
Bogner, who is in his eighth year at the helm, was so concerned with his team s COVID-19 safety protocols that it took a moment for the Trojans victory to sink in. Highland rallied to earn a 5-4 home win over Crown Point in eight innings on April 3, erasing a 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the seventh.
WHEATFIELD â Kankakee Valley ace pitcher MaryKate Shultz faced 21 Andrean hitters Wednesday night.
Fourteen of them got nothing and returned to their dugout. Seven others were retired on groundouts and fly balls, giving Shultz her first-ever perfect game in a crucial 3-0 Northwest Crossroads Conference win over the 59ers.
It is believed to be just the second perfect game in KVâs long history, with Jessica Dobson completing one in the mid-2000s.
Shultz went seven innings, striking out 13 to give her 63 strikeouts on the season. Shultz said it was apparent before the first pitch that her teammates were ready for the Niners.