BY JOEY BASKERVILLE
joey.baskerville
@journalstandard.com
Like most junior varsity sports, winning the conference is the highest honor a team can have.
It shows young athletes the value of taking care of conference matters first, before any dreams of winning a regional, sectional or super-sectional title can be realized. Let alone anything relating to state.
Conference is everything.
The Freeport JV softball team was able to come away with a NIC-10 conference championship this season on May 16. It was an accomplishment Freeport coach Chad Hersey was proud of. Especially considering the close games two of the best teams in the conference.
“Against Harlem and Hononegah, we played four of our best games,” Hersey said. “All of those wins were come-from-behind wins in the sixth and the seventh inning.”
The comeback kids rallied against the Indians in eight innings on April 9 for a 6-5 win in the first conference home game of the season.
Then against in their first true road test, the caught up to a hot Harlem team and managed an 11-8 win against the Huskies on April 22.
At that point in the season, the Pretzels were 10-0 with a perfect 7-0 NIC-10 record. Seven days later, Freeport would be challenged by the Huskies at home but escaped with a 10-9 win for a 12-0, 9-0 record.
The firepower on offense of catcher Shanna Winnekins (.457 batting average, 3 home runs, 36 RBIs), Anna Perkins (.513, 2 HR, 41 RBIs, 31 stolen bases), Cherice Stimpert (.500 BA, 35 stolen bases), Mariah Gill (.352), Ginger Thompson (.333) and Megan Kortermeier (.388, 18 RBIs, 20 stolen bases) made it tough for any pitcher to get around.
Then there were the arms of Rebecca Wagner – whose .419 batting average and 26 RBIs and 12 stolen bases made her a double threat – and Kortermeier in the pitcher’s circle that made it hard for some batters to make solid contact with the ball.
“Becca pitched all the tough games,” Hersey said.
Wagner had quiet a few great accomplishments in her young career including a perfect game against Rockford East, sitting down all 12 opposing batters on 42 pitches. She would strike out 13 batters against Hononegah on April 30 and struck out a season-high 14 against Rochelle in an 8-3 win.
Not bad considering she also was a member of the girls basketball team that took second place in the state tournament that ended March 1.
“The basketball team went deep into the year and she missed a week or so in practice,” Hersey said. “She had a sore shoulder. I think she was trying to get it going too quick. But it ended up working itself out.”
Wagner finished the year with an ERA of 2.28 with 152 Ks and and 55 walks. She completed 16 games.
The next night on April 30, Freeport would defeat Hononegah 6-2 and were close to completing not only a perfect conference record, but a perfect season overall.
Both of those hopes were dashed, however by Boylan on May 5 in a 6-3 loss, knocking down their record to 15-1 and 10-1 in the conference.
“They played really well the night they beat us,” said Hersey, who witnessed the Pretzels crush the Titans in mid-April defeat Boylan 23-10. “I know that the girls were pretty disappointed.”
The Pretzels would end the season undefeated at home. However they would lose another away game against Palatine in a close 4-3 game in the Belvidere tournament. Freeport finished third and had a 20-2 record with a 13-1 conference record.
And though Hersey and the team knew that the conference crown was all but their nearing the end of the season, the title was still not theirs. And Guilford would let them know about it.
“I think we lost because we knew all we had to do was win a couple,” Hersey said. “But a lot of these girls were on the freshman team last year that went something like 8-20. They didn’t expect to be this good but … they were.”
Guilford won 5-3 for the Pretzels third road loss of the year in a doubleheader. Freeport would defeat Guilford to split the twin bill with a 2-0 win.
Finally on May 16, the dream was realized after an 11-0 win over Belvidere North. The Pretzels would finish the season 23-3, with a 16-2 conference record.
Breakout box info (not sure if this made it to print or not)
Freeport’s JV top hitters:
“Anne Perkins, who’s only a freshmen lead the team in batting average, started the year batting sixth in the lineup. I ended the year having her bat clean up. She kind of came out of nowhere. She’s actually batted for the varsity team in the regional. He got an RBI in the regional and it’s always nice to see her do that.”
Perkins had a .513 batting average, drove in 41 RBIs, and stole 31 bases. She also had an on-base percentage of .677 and a .744 slugging percentage
Shanna Winnekins
“Shanna’s stats are pretty impressive,” Hersey said.
That they are. Winnekins was second on the team in batting average with .457 with 36 RBIs, .638 OBP and a .700 slugging percentage.
Becca Wagner
For the year as a starting pitcher, Wagner had a .419 BA with 26 RBIs and 12 stolen bases. Her on-base percentage was .574 and slugging percentage was .500.
“Pretty much from top to bottom they did well and everyone had a good on-base percentage,” Hersey said.
Most memorable moments for the Pretzels on the field, according to Hersey
“The best moment of the year was that we were playing Harlem on my birthday (April 29) losing 8-2 going into the sixth inning.
In the bottom of the sixth inning we scored eight runs on two outs.
That gave us the lead.
We came out an probably played the best defense that we played all year in the top of the seventh but (the Huskies) still managed to score two runs to tie it.
Then Anna Perkins hit a walkoff, which was just shy of being a grand slam with the bases loaded. The winning run just walked in on that shot and pulled it out to preserve our undefeated season at 12-0 (9-0 NIC-10).”
Off the field?
"Kelsey Eiseman’s mom bringing snacks for everybody after the game. I was joking around with her and I told her 'did you tell your mom that she’s in charge of brings snacks tonight?'
And her mom freaked out and brought cupcakes for the entire bus. I was just kidding but her mom made brownies for everyone for the rest of the year! And she brings them for the entire program on every bus ride."
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