ALBANY — Juda-Albany, sitting in second place in the Six Rivers East Conference, relied on ace pitcher Avary Briggs in its 2-1 win over Pecatonica on Monday, April 29. The senior struck out 10 batters and allowed just three hits to keep the Vikings at bay.

“There’s a point where you can ride a good arm, and Avary is throwing really well right now,” Juda-Albany coach Bill Davis said. “At the beginning of the year, she struggled. She’d be one of the first ones to admit it. Right now, she’s finding her spots and working ahead. Her ball is moving really well. She’s answered the call we needed.”

One of Pecatonica’s hits came in the first, as Alyssa Cassidy lined a one-out single to center. She stole second, and Diana Hendrickson drew a 3-2 walk to put two runners on. Avary Briggs escaped the jam by getting Tatum Kurschner to ground out to third.

Taking pitching to offense, Avary Briggs led off the bottom of the frame with a single down the left-field line. She took second on a change up in the dirt. Anna Ellinger was retired on a dropped third strike, but Avary Briggs was able to move up 60 feet on the throw down to first. 

Alana Durtschi came up clutch, hitting the ball just deep enough into the outfield to score Avary Briggs on a sacrifice fly for the 1-0 lead.

Juda-Albany had a clean inning in the second outside of a near diving catch from Lavinia Rufer that would have retired Sophia Schraepfer. The error allowed Schraepfer to reach, but Leaha Doescher popped up to Durtschi to end the inning.

Kierra Cleasby attempted to provide a two-out spark for the home team in the bottom of the second, hitting a hard grounder to short. On her subsequent leadoff from first, she took too big of a lead and got thrown out trying to take second.

Avary Briggs made quick work of the Vikings in the third, throwing 13 pitches. Her only blemish was a 3-2 walk to Brooklyn Johnsrud. 

Juda-Albany ran itself out of another run in the bottom of the frame. Phoenix Homan led off the inning with a single to right, hitting the ball where it was pitched. Allison Rhyner attempted to bunt her over to second but fouled off two pitches. She clutched up with a single up the middle, but Cassidy was able to keep the ball in the infield with a diving save. Seeing Cassidy on the ground, Homan took off for third but was thrown out.

Pecatonica starting pitcher Bri Peterson then got Avary Briggs to ground out and Ellinger to line out.

The Panthers wasted little time on defense, as Avary Briggs struck out the side. She got ahead in each count and was able to hit corners and get batters to chase on movement pitches up.

“That was very important. We talk about getting the first pitch and making it a strike,” she said. “It’s important to get ahead in the count.”

Juda-Albany squandered yet another scoring opportunity in the fourth. Durtschi led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on a groundout by Myah Johnson. Emerson Briggs then showed bunt to cover Durtschi on a steal to third, but catcher Johnsrud and shortstop Maddie Hirsch were on the ball. Johnsrud fired a strike to Hirsch at third that beat Durtschi, and Hirsch applied the tag to her hip.

“We’ve been practicing that a lot — talking and communicating where the runners are,” Hirsch said. “Once we got that ball up, I saw her (Durtschi) going and yelled ‘Brooklyn! Brooklyn!’ She got it for us.”

Emerson Briggs grounded out to end the inning.

After another 1-2-3 inning on offense for Pecatonica, Juda-Albany pushed its second run across. Anna Bartles sent the first pitch of her at bat to the right center gap for a double. Cleasby then reached on a bunt single and took second on catcher’s indifference. 

Homan, after fouling off three pitches, hit a grounder to third. Kurschner, believing there was a force at the bag, stepped on third. The mental error allowed Bartels to score and Homan to reach. Rhyner moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. After a pop up, Juda-Albany attempted to score one more run on a safety squeeze.

Ellinger laid down a bunt, but Johnsrud fielded the ball and tagged Homan out coming home.

“We have some freshmen playing. Through the weeks, they’ve been a little tentative on the bases. If we get out being aggressive right now, it’s that in between thing. Sometimes it’s too aggressive. Hats off to their catcher,” Davis said. “That’s a pretty good play on her part.”

A scoreless sixth by both teams set up the seventh, where Pecatonica had just three outs to generate some offense.

Katelyn Jorenby drew a four-pitch walk and Peterson followed with single to left. Avary Briggs struck out the next two batters, but it brought up leadoff hitter Hirsch to the plate.

“I did not do too good in the first at bats, so I knew I needed to get a hit for the team, especially since there were people on base,” Hirsch said. “I knew there were two outs, so I had to get it for the team.”

Down in the count 0-2, Hirsch singled to the right side, thwarting Avary Brigg’s shutout. Cassidy grounded out, though, to end the game. The Vikings left the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first.

“I’m super proud of them. The first time we played them, it got out of control on us. We had nothing to lose now. We were the underdogs,” Pecatonica head coach Dan Schraepfer said. “We cleaned up our defense tonight and had confidence at the plate. It was an all-around effort.”

Pecatonica tallied three hits from Hirsch, Cassidy and Peterson. Jorenby reached twice via walk. In the circle, Peterson suffered the loss. She held the Juda-Albany offense, which had come off a 2-0 weekend with 20 hits, to just two earned runs on eight hits. 

Durtschi and Cleasby recorded two hits each, accounting for half of the team’s offense. In the circle, Avary Briggs gave up one earned run on three hits. She struck out 10 and walked four.

PECATONICA 4, ARGYLE-BLACK HAWK 3

BLANCHARDVILLE — The Vikings rallied late, scoring all four runs in the final two innings of a Six Rivers East Conference game on April 30.

Alyssa Cassidy was not retired in the game, going 1-for-1 with two walks and two RBIs. Katelyn Jorenby was 2-for-3 with two runs scored. Diana Hendrickson pitched 5 1/3 innings relief in the win. She gave up one unearned run and struck out five batters.

Kylie Butler and Ava Wiegel led ABH with two hits each. Mya McNett suffered the loss, giving up four runs on six hits. She struck out four but walked five.