Prep Roundup: North clinches 1st UEC softball title

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ST. CHARLES – St. Charles North has known several lean softball seasons since it began playing in the Upstate Eight Conference.

"There was always Lake Park and Bartlett, and there was always the random oddball teams," North Stars coach April Stary said. "This was the first year in my memory that another team other than those two were able to rise to the top. And it just happened to be us."

North clinched its first UEC title with a 4-0 victory against Waubonsie Valley on Thursday behind Amanda Engel's one-hitter. A day after leaving pitches up in a high-scoring road win against league rival St. Charles East, Engel misplaced only one drop ball against the Warriors in the second inning.

"Amanda was on target, on her spots and just quick," Stary said. "She was just blowing it by them and everything was working."

North (23-8, 16-2) rallied for two runs in the second for all the support Engel would need. Annie Korth, Sydney Russell and Ashley Seering paced the offense with two hits apiece.

St. Charles East 6, Elgin 0: At St. Charles, Gaby Moe and Savannah Hupe combined on a one-hitter for the Saints (21-9-1, 14-5 Upstate Eight Conference), who got a run-scoring double from Rebecca Reinbold in the first inning.

Sycamore 2, Geneva 0: At Sycamore, Kelly McCaffrey's double was the lone extra base hit for Geneva (16-16, 7-7 Western Sun Conference). Kristyn Ruitenberg took the loss, allowing two unearned runs and five hits while striking out five.

BASEBALL

Batavia 12, Yorkville 6: At Batavia, Jordan Coffey (double, home run) and Tim Drish (double, triple) paced the Bulldogs' 14-hit attack in their Western Sun Conference finale. League champion Batavia (25-5, 20-1) has won 15 games in a row.

Sycamore 18, Geneva 7 (5 inn.): At Geneva, home runs by Cory Hofstetter, Brian Cornick and Alex Sroka weren't enough for the Vikings (18-11, 13-8 Western Sun Conference), who yielded seven first-inning runs.

Kaneland 14, DeKalb 3 (5 inn.): At DeKalb, Joe Gura boosted Kaneland (22-11, 13-8 Western Sun Conference) with a single, a home run and three RBIs at Northern Illinois University. Troy Pritchard pitched three innings for the win.

BOYS VOLLEYBALL

Willowbrook 2, South Elgin 0 (25-18, 25-18): At Willowbrook, Akash Patel had five kills and nine digs for the Storm (14-18) while John Kuzelka contributed 17 assists.

LACROSSE

St. Charles 9, Benet 7: At St. Charles, A six-goal outburst in the fourth quarter propelled St. Charles (13-1), which won its regular-season finale to secure an 8-0 conference record. The team will learn its playoff seed on Sunday.