You’ve undoubtedly heard of the Energizer Bunny. What about the Energizer Batavia Bulldog?
Batavia senior Keegan Maris keeps going and going — and scoring and scoring.
“I’ll have to pass that name down to her,” Bulldogs coach Mark Gianfrancesco said. “Actually, I’ve said the Energizer Bunny a lot before because she’s always going. Her energy, her fitness level and her drive are pretty special.”
Maris, who had 18 goals and 15 assists last season, simply laughs at being compared to the Energizer Bunny.
“I don’t know how that all started, but it’s funny,” she said. “I guess it’s because I’m someone who is going to do whatever it takes to win. If I can boost team spirit, I’m going to do it, but it’s not just me.
“Other seniors like Cameron Hindel and Mackenzie Foster really help out with a never-quit attitude.”
Maris delivered a goal and an assist in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Glenbard East, a team that finished third last season in Class 3A. She scored her sixth goal of the year Saturday as the Bulldogs (8-0) blanked West Chicago 4-0.
“She’s a pretty dynamic player who is great with the ball on her foot,” Gianfrancesco said of Maris. “She’s a spitfire. She can finish if she gets the chance, and she can distribute and play defense.
“She has a lot of tools on her tool belt, and she’s coming up big for us as a senior leader.”
Gianfrancesco also related how Maris despises losing.
“She is an extremely competitive person who does not like to lose,” he said. “It wouldn’t matter if she were playing tiddlywinks. She wants to win. She’s been that way since she was little.”
She also takes pride in it.
“For as long as I can remember I’ve hated losing no matter what I was playing,” she said. “It could be some simple game in gym class, I still want to win. Now I hate losing even more.
“I don’t want to sit on the bus for the ride home after losing. I’m competitive and love having my team win, so I’m going to do whatever I can to help us win.”
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Maris plays as an outside midfielder during the club season, which means she doesn’t have many opportunities to score. It’s much different being the go-to player at forward for Batavia.
“She takes this role very seriously,” Gianfrancesco said. “She’s evolved as she’s matured and is now much more vocal to the rest of the team and keeping things upbeat. “She’s willing to drive them, keep them going and stay focused.
“She trusts us to put her in position to be successful, distributing, winning 50-50 (balls) or to kill the clock at the end of the game. At the end of the day, she just wants to win.”
Indeed, Maris is so focused she hardly smiles. So far, she’s been smiling a bit more. The Bulldogs want to win their first regional title since 2013.
“Yeah, I guess I’m smiling a bit more but some of that’s because I realize the end of high school is coming and I’m going to miss being here,” she said. “But we’ve got a lot of talent and we’re focused on finishing better than we have in the past.
“We’re banking on our talent to win a lot of games.”
C.R. Walker is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.