Antioch junior Eden Echevarria comes from a long line of baseball players.
She said her father played for Waukegan and grandparents played in Puerto Rico, and she was introduced to hitting at a young age.
“I started swinging a little foam baby bat when I was 2 years old,” she said. “My dad is really into baseball. We’re really a baseball family, so I got into softball. I think my dad is proud of me. I do everything to make him proud.”
Well, Echevarria sure can hit, and the Wisconsin recruit singled and scored three runs in Antioch’s 6-0 win against Northern Lake County Conference rival Wauconda in the Class 3A Lakes Sectional championship game on Friday.
The Sequoits (28-3), top-seeded in the sectional and ranked No. 1 in 3A in the Illinois Softball Coaches Association’s poll, will try to punch a ticket to state for the second time in program history when they play host Kaneland in a supersectional at 4:30 p.m. Monday. They lost in a supersectional last season.
Antioch sophomore ace Jacey Schuler (19-2) was in complete command throughout the game against the second-seeded Bulldogs (24-8). She allowed just three hits while striking out 13 and has 27 strikeouts in her past two outings.
Meanwhile, Echevarria set the table from the leadoff spot, forcing Wauconda pitcher Rachel Peat to constantly work with runners on base.
“My main objective was to get on base because I knew the heart of the order was going to get me in,” Echevarria said.
Not that she can’t hit for power. Echevarria is hitting .388 with nine home runs. What would have been her 10th homer — in the sectional semifinal against Lakes — was taken away when she was ruled out for not touching a base.
“I don’t think of home runs, just hitting line drives,” she said. “Home runs are nice, but my main priority is getting those extra-base hits.”
Against Wauconda, Echevarria led off the first inning with a single and then scored the game’s first run.
“Unfortunately, when you give the leadoff hitter in any inning the opportunity to score, it’s tough to defend,” Wauconda coach Tim Orisek said. “I thought Rachel battled in the circle. She showed her toughness. But we couldn’t get too much going offensively.”
Echevarria, who showed up early at a recent practice for extra time in the batting cage, hit 476 with 19 doubles, 13 home runs, 52 RBIs and 57 runs during her first varsity season last year.
“Eden was varsity right from the get-go, but her first year got canceled,” Antioch coach Anthony Rocco said. “We knew we had something special with her, Emily Brecht and Syerra Gilmore coming in all together.
“Eden was a catalyst last year. We knew people were pitching her more careful this year, but she still led us in home runs this year. She’s showing more patience at the plate, letting the ball come to her.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.