Ashley Salinas wasn’t trying to do anything special in Tuesday’s Class 3A Kankakee Valley Sectional semifinals.
But the senior right fielder did it anyway.
Salinas went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBIs as Andrean beat Hanover Central 12-3 in matchup of two of the state’s top teams in the class. The 59ers (18-6) were ranked No. 15 in the Class 3A state coaches poll, and the Wildcats (24-5) were No. 4.
“I was relaxed,” said Salinas, who had the first two-homer game of her career. “I wasn’t looking for anything. I was just trying to hit the ball when it was there.”
Salinas pulled a three-run homer to left in the first inning, and Andrean never relinquished the lead. As part of an eight-run third inning, she added a solo homer to left-center and an RBI single.
“She had to be seeing the ball really well,” Andrean coach Brooke Baker-Runyon said. “It’s so hard to hit back-to-back home runs, and she did it. As seniors, they want to come here and make some noise before they leave.”
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Andrean collected 17 hits. Tessa Wojkovich, Kennedy Kuykendall and Haley Huesken all went 3-for-4.
The 59ers broke open the game in the third, sending 13 batters to the plate. Winning pitcher Abby Graegin had a two-run single and Huesken had a two-run double.
Baker-Runyon credited the 59ers’ preparation and drills on Monday — she sported four bruises as evidence of the work — for helping their offense.
“We came out the first inning, and like we’ve been saying all year, ‘Score early, score often.’ We did just that,” she said. “It was a bigger first inning than I would’ve expected.
“We got a few scouting reports on their pitching, and we put together some hitting stations for the girls. We were more strategic with our practice. Usually we just take a bunch of reps. But it worked out in our favor, and our hitters just did really well.”
The Wildcats had 12 hits, including Skylar Barnett’s 3-for-3 game, but weren’t able to break out for a big inning.
“They have really good hitters, and I knew they were going to score, so keep it to a minimum,” Graegin said. “Keep getting ahead in the count.”
Hanover coach Amanda Suarez highlighted the successes of the season, including an undefeated Greater South Shore Conference title. But the Wildcats’ streak of three straight sectional championships came to an end.
“We’re still a good team,” Suarez said. “The bottom line, not to take anything away from Andrean because they’re a very good team — clearly. But they wanted it more. They came out, they were aggressive and they did exactly what they were supposed to do. We’re a very talented team, but the drive to want it, they had it more than we did.”
Andrean will play in Thursday’s sectional final against the winner of Tuesday’s late game between Kankakee Valley (24-5), ranked No. 3 in 3A state coaches poll, and Twin Lakes (13-12).
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff