Kennedy Fickes tosses a two-hitter as Hillsdale beats Northwestern

JEROMESVILLE — Kennedy Fickes did her job for five innings and Keira Filius was lights out for the final two frames as Hillsdale downed Northwestern 4-1 on Tuesday as the Falcons earned no less than a share of the Wayne County Athletic League title.

Fickes, a sophomore, limited NW to just a pair of hits, yielding one run with one strikeout and one walk for Hillsdale, which is now 11-0 in WCAL play and 17-3 overall.

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“I know I can always trust my teammates to have my back and it makes me more comfortable as a pitcher and I think it makes me throw better knowing I have a great defense behind me,” Fickes said. “A lot of my pitches I was throwing in and out and that was really kind of throwing them off, as well as some off-speed too, and that was working well.

“And Keira was hurt for a while and was out but she came in and threw amazing.”

Hillsdale was clinging to a 2-1 lead when Filius was summoned to the circle in the sixth inning. She completed the game by fanning three batters in the final two frames, giving up no hits.

“I was definitely a little stressed because they weren’t behind by a lot but I knew I had to do the job, and I just needed to come in and shut them down, and it worked out pretty well for me,” Filius said. “And Kennedy has been doing amazing for us in hitting and pitching, like when I was out, she didn’t hesitate at all to come in. I’m super proud of her.”

Hillsdale scored a pair of runs in the second as senior Belle Dalton led off the frame with a sharp single to left, moved to second on a Fickes single and scored on the play when an outfield error was made. Fickes later scored on a double to right-center by junior Laci Huber.

Dalton, one of Hillsdale’s team leaders and catcher, said both Fickes and Filius did their jobs.

“Kennedy is doing really well and she knows her role is to go in there and pitch strikes. Especially with Keira, who was out, throwing great pitches (and) having big shoes to fill in (graduated) Taylor Morgan, so she’s doing a great job and I’m proud of her,” said Dalton, who added it was a bit frustrating to strand three runners with no outs in the fifth inning. “I was a little upset about that, but I knew we could score a couple more runs like we did in the sixth.”

Filius led off the sixth with a single to center and was replaced by courtesy runner Lilyana McCrory, who moved to second on an infield error and eventually scored when Jacey Semulis laid down a perfect bunt for a hit. Semulis was hurt on the play at first but was eventually able to walk off the field with the assistance of Hillsdale’s trainer and assistant coach Dan Fulk.

Willow Funk, who reached on an error, later scored on a fielder’s choice.

Northwestern (4-4 WCAL, 7-7 overall) scored its lone run in the fourth frame as Arayah Nussbaum walked and scored on a single by Gabby Cubur.

Junior Alysa Trojan also threw well for the Huskies, giving up two unearned runs on five hits with two strikeouts and five walks. Senior Kara Burgan did well in relief, getting three outs when Hillsdale loaded the bases in the fifth. She gave up two unearned runs on two hits.

“It was a really good ball game and we’re progressing. We’ve had a little bit of a rough season but we’re starting to play the game like we need to, so we came out and gave them a battle,” NW coach Scott Hershey said. “Alysa threw a really nice game. We’ve got three pitchers right now and plan on using all three.”

“They kept us off-balance and we chased a lot of pitches we shouldn’t have chased,” Hillsdale coach Hannah Moore said. “Their pitchers had really good games and we didn’t adjust very well today. We didn’t attack the strikes like we should and that’s what happens when we don’t. We didn’t score as many runs as we’re used to.”

This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: Kennedy Fickes tosses a two-hitter as Hillsdale beats Northwestern