Kaneland’s Hannah Theobald was primed an encore.
The senior first baseman played for the Knights on their 2015 team that placed third in Class 3A. She’s the only link to the school’s current offensive juggernaut.
“That experience I had as a freshman was so great,” Theobald said. “I just wanted to have all of the younger girls on the team go through the same thing that I did.”
Theobald made sure of that Monday in Maple Park. She had two hits and two RBIs and scored three runs as the host Knights ended Vernon Hills’ Cinderella run with an 11-1 victory in six innings at the Kaneland Supersectional.
Kaneland (26-9) will meet Providence (29-11) at 10 a.m. Friday in a state semifinal at EastSide Centre in East Peoria.
The Knights erupted for 14 hits and put the game away with a nine-run barrage in the sixth. Theobald also started the flurry with an opening single.
Freshman shortstop Rose Roach punctuated the rout with a grand slam, her seventh home run of the season. She ended with four RBIs.
Sophomore ace Emilee Erickson scattered three hits, struck out three and allowed just one walk in the complete-game victory for Kaneland.
“I knew they were a good team with good hitters,” Erickson said. “Anybody you play at this point in the season is very dangerous. I just wanted to eliminate any mistakes because I knew any mistake a team like that was going to capitalize on.”
“We have a saying on our team that hitting is contagious,” Roach said. “We have so many talented hitters and go who can play, and we just feed off the energy and confidence of the whole team.”
Theobald ignited the attack. Her two-out RBI double to right-center broke open a scoreless game in the bottom of the fourth.
The game got away late from Vernon Hills, but the Cougars (18-19) showed toughness and poise in nullifying Kaneland’s big-play capability until the sixth.
Senior shortstop Delaney Bowen, a Purdue recruit, pulled the Cougars within 2-1 on a looping RBI single in the top of the sixth.
The smallest school in the Central Suburban North, Vernon Hills was boosted by a strong schedule. The Cougars got hot at the right time.
“I don’t think anybody expected us to be here playing for this game,” Bowen said. “We had an up-and-down year. We won some, we lost some, but we always knew as a team we had talent.
“The seniors got together and just carried the team during the state tournament. We had great chemistry, and it showed. Kaneland was a great team, but we played with a lot of heart.”
Patrick Z. McGavin is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
