The work never seems to end for Kaneland pitcher Brynn Woods, but it has certainly paid off for the senior right-hander.
Woods, who has spent four years on the varsity for the Knights, will take her game to the next level in the big city to play softball for Illinois-Chicago.
But first things first. There’s plenty more work to be done before calling it a wrap on a prolific high school career for Woods, who even at less than her best still stands out.
“I think that, personally, I could have thrown a better game,” Woods said Monday. “Our team needs to gel a little bit more and we could pick each other up on defense a little bit more.”
Woods was giving her assessment of a 4-1 Interstate Eight Conference loss to Sycamore in a duel between aces who will continue their rivalry next season in the Missouri Valley Conference.
Senior right-hander Bella Jacobs, a Bradley recruit, won this battle for Sycamore (9-1, 3-0). She shut down the Knights (5-5-1, 0-1) on five hits, striking out 12, walking one and hitting one.
“On offense, I think we need to attack a little bit earlier,” Woods said. “Our hitting wasn’t too bad, but I think we definitely needed to put bat on ball a little bit more often, try to hit those gaps as best we could, especially with the type of pitches she was giving us.
“Bella was their ace last year. She likes to throw a lot of curveballs, so I was hitting in the basement last night working on curves to get ready for the game.”
Woods wasn’t her sharpest in the circle, but she still struck out six. She allowed 15 baserunners, with eight walks and six hits, while the Knights also committed three errors.
Even so, Woods kept her team in the game.
She accounted for her team’s run with an RBI single in the sixth inning. In the seventh, Kaneland had two runners on with two out and the tying run stepping to the plate before Jacobs clinched the win with her final strikeout.
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“I try my best,” Woods said. “I try to find out as much as I can about the team before I face them. It’s a little bit of what I do, plus I know some of the girls from years past.”
She has impressed Mike Kuefler, who’s in his second season working with Woods since returning to take over as Kaneland’s coach after stepping away from the program for her first two seasons.
“Brynn is real cerebral with the game,” Kuefler said. “What you don’t see on the field is that she studies our opponents and then watches whatever she can dig up on them.
“She does a lot of background work on her own. She’s just a great kid and very smart.”
Kaneland doesn’t have designated team captains, but as one of only four seniors, Woods takes her leadership role seriously.
“I do a lot of work outside of practice and a lot of the girls come over to my house and we do work together to get ready for games,” Woods said. “I hit the gym really hard this past offseason and pitched a lot over the winter, just to get my repertoire of pitches ready to go for this year.
“I like to set a good example of the type of work ethic you need at practice and the type you need outside of practice to get to the next level and compete at a high level.”
It caught the eye of Megan Coronado, UIC’s first-year coach who signed Woods in November.
“Brynn is unshakeable under pressure and brings the confidence and consistency every staff needs,” Coronado said. “Adding her gives us the depth and dominance we’re building toward.”