THE INSIDER: SOFTBALL
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Melissa Barber, Geneva, So., IF
What she did: Barber was at the heart of a bounce-back week for the Vikings. Against Kaneland on Thursday, Barber had an RBI double and laid down a sacrifice bunt that led to the Vikings’ winning run in the bottom of the eighth. She was even better on Saturday, going 3-for-3 with three doubles and four RBIs in Geneva’s win against Oswego East.
Coach Greg Dierks says: “She’s got seven doubles already so she’s squared up a lot of balls. ... She’s been a big part of our offense picking up the pace.”
HIGH FIVE
1. St. Charles East. The Saints (4-3) claimed an impressive win against Burlington Central on Saturday. Gaby Moe has supplied solid pitching for East.
2. Batavia. Despite being swept by Upstate Eight powerhouse Bartlett on Saturday, Batavia (4-5) is showing signs of having the best offense in the area.
3. St. Charles North. Coming off a loss to South Elgin on Friday, North (2-4) has taken some lumps against a strong schedule, but eventually the North Stars are going to have to beat a few of the tougher foes on their schedule if they’re going to have the type of season they envision.
4. Geneva. Three straight wins for Geneva (3-5, 2-0 Western Sun Conference) has the Vikings in considerably better spirits than this time a week ago.
5. Kaneland. The Knights (5-4) still have a winning record but the trend line isn’t encouraging. Kaneland fell at Geneva on Thursday, then was swept in a double dip on Saturday by Marengo.
NOTEWORTHY
Slowing their roll: Monday’s postponed game for Geneva against West Chicago might save the Vikings a little energy they’ll need later in the week.
Geneva was scheduled to play a whopping nine games this week.
"I think that's a new record,” Vikings coach Greg Dierks said after his team’s win against Kaneland last week. “If the weather holds up, that's 25 percent of our season in six days."
Four of those games are scheduled as part of a tournament on Saturday in Antioch.
Geneva also has crucial Western Sun Conference matchups at Glenbard South today and at Batavia on Thursday on the docket, with a doubleheader against Hampshire in between on Wednesday.
Such a grueling agenda might have been more objectionable when the Vikings were 0-5, but with Geneva now having won three straight games, Dierks doesn’t expect his girls to mind the no-time-to-breathe itinerary.
"We're in a good mood right now so having more games will be great,” Dierks said. “We'll just continue to improve ourselves."
Patience of the Saints: Beating fireballer Mackenzie Scott and Burlington Central is no easy feat, but St. Charles East was able to turn the trick in Saturday’s 3-2 win against the Rockets.
East’s patience might have been the biggest factor in the win. The Saints drew six walks from Scott.
Saints coach Kelly Barnett said that before Saturday, East had been “a pretty average team as far as taking walks,” but the Saints’ plate discipline was ideal against the Rockets. Better yet, Barnett said, East was able to move runners along and take advantage of its baserunners to pull off the close win.
Rather than the “Fighting Saints,” Barnett suggested it might be more appropriate to refer to East as the “Traveling Saints” this week. East had its game at Naperville North rained out on Monday, but still has away games scheduled this week at East Aurora, Elgin, Neuqua Valley and Wheaton North.
Barnett doesn’t expect all the bus trips to cause any trouble.
“We’re early enough in the season where we still have our legs underneath us,” Barnett said. “We’ll get on the bus, we’re going to think about the game and then hopefully we can come out and play well all week.”
Juggernaut looms: St. Charles North (2-4) has not had an easy shake from the early-season schedule, and today’s matchup might be the North Stars’ toughest one yet.
North is at Bartlett today, and the Hawks are expected to land near the top of the Upstate Eight Conference. Bartlett won a showdown with Lake Park on Friday, then cooled off Batavia by sweeping the Bulldogs on Saturday, 7-2 and 8-6.
Jay Schwab
– jschwab@kcchronicle.com
COACH SLY SAYS
Coach Sly is really looking forward to the Batavia-Geneva game this Thursday.
Sly thinks both teams could be sleeper picks in the Western Sun Conference, so this head-to-head meeting could be big come late May.
Sly likes offense, and he expects some runs to be scored in this one, especially with Geneva swingin’ the bats a little better lately. Pretty soon, teams might start giving the Bulldogs’ supersoph Lynam a whole lot of nothing to swing at.
• You can respond at
kcchronicle.com/blogs/sly.
