They definitely had Madi Reeves’ back.
That’s why Yorkville’s pick to click on offense Tuesday was difficult to decide in a Southwest Prairie West showdown at Oswego East.
The Foxes’ unleashed a 16-hit attack in support of their sophomore pitcher that featured at least one hit from every batter in the order.
Combined with another fine effort from Reeves — who struck out 13, walked just one and allowed five hits — it proved to be a winning combination in Yorkville’s 12-3 victory.
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“We want that to be the case,” Yorkville coach Jory Regnier said. “We want her to be supported on the mound, and after they score a run, we want Madi to know and our defense to know our offense is going to come to the plate and do their job, too.”
The Foxes (10-0, 3-0) remain perfect overall and in conference, and Reeves has seven of those decisions.
Junior third baseman Avery Nehring staked Reeves to a 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first inning to score junior shortstop Ellie Alvarez, who had singled.
Nehring and Alvarez had both started as freshmen on the 2019 team that won 26 games.
“We do expect to hit,” Alvarez said. “We just need to help each other out and help Madi out because she does amazing on the mound.”
Alvarez had three hits, including a double, and drove in one run. Nehring had two hits and drove in two runs, while sophomore Samantha Davidowski contributed a double and three-run homer.
Reeves gave up a second-inning home run to first baseman Morgan Robertson that forced a tie, but the Foxes responded promptly with a seven-run third that featured nine straight hits with one out.
“I have a good defense behind me and that helps a lot,” Reeves said. “I keep myself to high standards and I don’t let a lot get to me.
“I didn’t let (the home run) shake me. I had to work on the next two batters and get out of the inning.”
She did that well, giving up an RBI single to Robertson in the bottom of the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth to Mia Corres for the only other runs for the Wolves (7-3, 3-2).
Yorkville’s big rally featured an RBI double from Alvarez, a bloop RBI single from Nehring, a bloop two-run single from Kayla Tranter and an RBI double from Kaitlyn Roberts.
“It’s tough when you’re put in a spot where they’re not all huge, hard hits,” Oswego East coach Sarah Davies-Dymanus said. “There were some bloops and grounders up the middle.
“We had a couple plays at the plate we could have made. It gets to how do you stop the bleeding at that point.”
Yorkville’s four-run sixth, highlighted by Davidowski’s home run down the left field line, left no doubt.
Davies-Dymanus was impressed with Reeves, who would have pitched for Yorkville’s varsity as a freshman last year if the season hadn’t been canceled by the Illinois High School Association due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“She has good speed and good command,” Davies-Dymanus said of Reeves. “I think what tripped us up the most was her pitch selection after she got the first strike.
“She seemed to go with the riseball that fooled a lot of our batters, and she had a lot of movement on her inside and outside pitches with no real pattern.”