JANESVILLE — After Friday’s rivalry softball game at the Youth Sports Complex, Janesville Parker junior Lilly Keller jokingly credited her new cleats for her game-winning efforts against Janesville Craig.
Some newfound confidence in her offspeed pitches, particularly her changeup, and an aggressive yet relaxed approach in a key bases-loaded at-bat certainly helped, too.
She limited a potent Cougars offense to three runs (one earned) on seven hits and a walk in the circle, went 3 for 3 at the plate and drove in the go-ahead runs in Parker’s three-run fourth inning as her Vikings (7-8 overall, 6-5 Big Eight) beat their rivals 4-3 for a fourth straight win in the series.
Parker’s Class of 2024 players finished their careers 6-2 against Craig.
“The whole season, my changeup has not been working at all, and the last couple games, it’s been working so good,” Keller said. “My teammates and (coach Bob) Getka and everybody, they’ve been like, ‘That changeup is working so good,’ so that gave me the confidence to know I can throw it and it works.”
Keller also provided a crucial defensive play for the game’s final out. Craig (11-5, 6-3) had already brought in a run on Alex Hanson’s two-out RBI single to cut its deficit to one with the heart of the Cougars’ lineup, starting with Brynn Sikich, due to come up next with runners on first and second.
Sikich scorched Keller’s second delivery in the at-bat, but it took one hard hop in front of the plate and popped up into Keller’s mitt. She flipped it to first to put the bow on the win.
“Here we are again, a Parker-Craig game that comes down to the last play,” Getka said.
The contest started with the Cougars taking the initiative against Keller. Hanson and Ava Schaffner hit back-to-back singles to kick off the bottom of the first, and both took an extra base on a Parker error getting the ball back into the infield after Schaffner’s hit.
With two in scoring position and nobody out, Keller struck out Sikich before Bella Vitaioli hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Craig’s first run. Keller and Mya Eichelt battled through a 10-pitch at-bat next with Keller finally getting a swinging strikeout from the Craig second baseman.
Craig’s Abbie Claas gave the Cougars a 2-0 lead with an RBI hit in the second. Craig coach Kristen Worm said her team did a good job coming into the game with an aggressive attitude at the plate.
“They know Lilly doesn’t walk a lot of people, so they came in expecting strikes and looking to hit,” she said. “We’ve been hitting well, so they knew they had the ability to do it.”
After those initial runs, though, Keller retired 12 of the next 14 batters to get through innings three through six. Vikings second baseman Donnavee Kong recorded putouts on tricky infield popups in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
“There were multiple balls that could’ve popped over her head — and honestly, at the beginning of the year, would have — so you can see the team is definitely improving (defensively) by leaps and bounds,” Getka said.
The Vikings broke through for their first runs in the fourth inning. First baseman Addie Nelson, who went 2 for 3, and catcher Delaney King (3 for 4) both reached on base hits to start the frame.
Grace Sensabaugh reached on a one-out walk to load the bases, then Kong punched an RBI hit through the infield to give Parker its first run.
Gentry Reed hit into a fielder’s choice force out at home for the second out of the inning, but the bases remained loaded for Keller.
She sent the first pitch she saw from Maddie Schieve on the ground between Claas and Schaffner on the left side of the Craig infield, plating both Sensabaugh and Guzman and putting the Vikings up 3-2.
Keara Erickson tacked on a vital insurance run for Parker in the fifth with an RBI groundout.
The sixth inning came and went with no scoring for either team, and the Vikings left a runner on in the seventh against Bailey Bienema.
The bottom of the seventh started with Keller striking out Ella Loveland, but because nothing can ever come easy in a Craig-Parker softball game, Emily Kleinheinz hit next and reached on an error.
Claas lined out to third next, but when Reed threw to first in an attempt to double off Kleinheinz, the ball sailed over the first baseman’s head, and Kleinheinz scampered to second.
That’s when Hanson connected for her RBI single. Schaffner also singled behind her to put two on before Sikich’s game-ending at-bat.
“We waited too long to score more,” Worm said. “Two is not enough to beat Parker.”
The win put Parker, sitting in fifth in the Big Eight standings, a game over .500 in conference play.
The Cougars are in fourth, a full game ahead of their rivals, but they still have two left to play against conference leader Sun Prairie East plus two games against second-place Verona. One of the games against the Wildcats will be the completion of a suspended game in which Verona was already ahead of Craig 9-0.
Craig’s next action will be at 5 p.m. Tuesday at Madison Memorial.
The Vikings’ toughest games left are two against 8-2 Middleton and one against Sun Prairie West and the Wolves’ Division I commit Luci Moreno. That game is Parker’s next at 4:30 p.m. Monday.
“This is a chance to get something rolling on our side,” Getka said. “In the conference standings, this one’s going to end up being big at the end of the season.”
JANESVILLE PARKER 4, JANESVILLE CRAIG 3
Parker 000 310 0 — 4 11 4
Craig 110 000 1 — 3 7 2
Leading hitters — Keller (JP) 3x3, Nelson (JP) 2x3, King (JP) 3x4, Hanson (JC) 2x4, Schaffner (JC) 2x4.
Pitching (ip-h-r-er-bb-k) — JP: Keller W, 7-7-3-1-1-5. JC: Schieve L, 5 1/3-10-4-4-1-1; Bienema 1 2/3-1-0-0-0-3.
Most Popular
Comments / 0