Foxes hungry for sectional win

Updated: May 31, 2011 7:18PM

If experience counts, Yorkville’s softball team should have a slight edge as it prepares to take the next step.

The Foxes won their second straight regional title and only the third in program history Saturday when they beat Sandwich 10-0 at home. It sends coach Kathi Dockstader’s club to the Rochelle Class 3A Sectional today for a 4 p.m. date with Belvidere North, a team with even less playoff history than Yorkville.

The Blue Thunder, in their fourth season of varsity competition, beat Rockford East 14-0 last Tuesday for their first postseason win. On Saturday, they held off Freeport 4-3 to claim their first regional crown.

“I definitely think we’ll be much more relaxed than last year,” said Dockstader, who has eight seniors back from a team that went 19-19 last season and bowed out of the playoffs with a 15-4 sectional semifinal loss to Geneseo.

One of those seniors is Allison Haskins, who has done a nice job of anchoring the 22-10 Foxes’ steady defense in her return to third base.

“She’s had more balls hit to her than anybody on the team and she’s been very solid,” Dockstader said. “Defensively, she’s stepped it up.”

Haskins says she loves staying busy in the field.

“I really think what’s gotten us this far is our strong defense,” she said. “I think it’s one of the strongest Yorkville has seen in a while. Our pitchers throw inside a lot and girls like to turn on those. I like making plays.”

Last year’s experience made the seniors hungry for more, said Haskins, but they know better than to take Belvidere North (21-9) lightly.

“They got this far, they’re just as good as us,” she said. “We have to come ready to play. We realize how important it is to get a win (Wednesday) so we can take it at least one step farther. As seniors, that’s what we’re focused on, making it farther than we did last year.”

Belvidere North is a bit of an unknown, although Dockstader has talked to coaches from DeKalb and Rochelle, which played the Blue Thunder this year. DeKalb, which beat Yorkville 3-0 and 3-2 in a pair of Northern Illinois Big 12 East decisions this year and has advanced to the Class 4A sectionals, claimed a 6-0 decision over Belvidere North.

Senior second baseman Holly Hilden, a four-year starter and St. Xavier University recruit, leads the Blue Thunder with a .451 average with seven home runs and 28 RBI.

In the preseason, Dockstader said she may have the “strongest hitting team” she has had in this, her 11th season. Senior leadoff hitter and center fielder Sonja Gilbertson leads the way with a .426 average courtesy of 49 hits. She also has team highs of six home runs and 36 RBI. Pitcher/first baseman Lauren Rhodes is hitting .354, while shortstop Devin Turner is batting .340 with a four home runs and 34 RBI.

“Offensively, it’s been somebody different every time. It’s not one person, with maybe the exception of Sonja (Gilbertson),” Dockstader said.

If they accomplish their goal and take the next step, the Foxes will find someone more familiar. On the other side of the Rochelle bracket are Geneseo and Sycamore, which won the Dixon and Kaneland regionals, respectively.

They, too, have some history, since Geneseo beat the Spartans for the sectional crown a year ago before moving on to the supersectional where it lost a one-run decision to Antioch.

“The girls know it would be a challenge to play either one of them again,” Dockstader said.

The sectional final will be held Saturday at 11 a.m.

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