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'This team won't go down': Why Belvidere North is the last NIC-10 softball team standing

jay taft, rockford register star
·4 min read
Belvidere North's McKenzie Culvey throws the ball to first base against Hononegah on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Swanson Park in Roscoe.
Belvidere North's McKenzie Culvey throws the ball to first base against Hononegah on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Swanson Park in Roscoe.

SYCAMORE — The Belvidere North Blue Thunder softball squad used a walk-off walk in extra innings to stay alive in the Class 3A Sycamore Sectional on Wednesday and is the lone NIC-10 team still standing this postseason.

After Hononegah's 8-0 loss to Barrington in the 4A Huntley Sectional semi on Tuesday, North became the toughest NIC-10 out this postseason as it reached the sectional final. It will take on Kaneland at 4:30 p.m. Friday looking for the program's first sectional championship.

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Belvidere North claimed a 5-4 win when Woodstock North's ace pitcher Casey Vermett walked Katie Norgard with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth inning.

"I knew I just had to do anything to get that run in; anything," said Norgard, who also had a double in Belvidere North's two-run second inning. "This team just won't go down."

Belvidere North took second to Hononegah in the final NIC-10 standings and lost regular-season games to conference foes Hononegah, Belvidere and Harlem.

Now, the Blue Thunder have charged the deepest into the postseason. Here's why:

1. Becca Schwartz's arm

Belvidere North's Becca Schwartz pitches the ball against Hononegah on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Swanson Park in Roscoe.
Belvidere North's Becca Schwartz pitches the ball against Hononegah on Friday, May 13, 2022, at Swanson Park in Roscoe.

Belvidere North has relied more and more on right-hander Becca Schwartz on the hill as the season has gone on, and she's come through. She has earned complete-game victories in each postseason game, and she did it once again Wednesday.

"Just to be a part of school history and to be able to go this far, it feels so good," Schwartz said. "This was a great pitching dual, and we made it exciting. ... Now we want to keep it going."

Schwartz is now 17-6 and added six more strikeouts to her season mix Wednesday for 130 Ks on the year. She had an ERA of 2.91 headed into the sectional semi, as well.

She will get the call again on Friday.

"She's just gotten better and better for us all year," North coach Brian Hilden said. "Her confidence level has shot up there."

2. Crushing the ball down the stretch

Belvidere North head coach Brian Hilden, left, runs back to the dugout after talking to his pitcher Becca Schwartz and the rest of the infield at Sycamore on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. The Blue Thunder went on to beat Woodstock North 5-4 to advance to the sectional finals.
Belvidere North head coach Brian Hilden, left, runs back to the dugout after talking to his pitcher Becca Schwartz and the rest of the infield at Sycamore on Wednesday, June 1, 2022. The Blue Thunder went on to beat Woodstock North 5-4 to advance to the sectional finals.

While the Blue Thunder have hit the ball well all season long, averaging over .400 as a team, they are seeing the ball especially well of late.

North had 17 hits on Saturday in the 10-1 win over Belvidere, and another 11 in its win over Woodstock North on Wednesday. And those came against Casey Vermett, who had 168 strikeouts in 116 innings headed into the sectional semifinal.

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"She was really good, and that was a really stressful at-bat right there," said Blue Thunder first baseman Kam Deckard, who lined an RBI single to right to give North a 3-2 lead in the sixth. It didn't stick. "But in this one we had to keep coming through, again and again, like we have all season long. ... We just worked together to get this one."

North is led at the plate by McKenzie Culvey, who leads off and was hitting .528 headed into Wednesday's game, and Norgard who was hitting .482 headed in. They've been two of the hotter hitters, but the team has been solid up and down the lineup.

"We've had different kids step up time and time again," Hilden said.

3. Hononegah didn't come to play

Hononegah head coach Dennis McKinney has a meeting on the pitching mound on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Huntley High School in Huntley. Hononegah's season came to a close with an 8-0 loss to Barrington.
Hononegah head coach Dennis McKinney has a meeting on the pitching mound on Tuesday, May 31, 2022, at Huntley High School in Huntley. Hononegah's season came to a close with an 8-0 loss to Barrington.

The other reason why Belvidere North is the last remaining NIC-10 softball team alive is because Hononegah was unceremoniously eliminated 8-0 by Barrington in Tuesday's Class 4A Huntley Sectional semi.

"I just didn't have them ready to play," Hononegah coach Dennis McKinney said. "You can just tell as a coach if they're not ready, and that's what I saw."

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Hononegah was the lone NIC-10 team without a senior on the roster, and it soared through the postseason with strong leadership from junior pitchers Lexi Bach and Sierra Armstrong and junior outfielder Briella Sendele.

They were unable to get past Barrington, however.

"They hit us in the nose right away," McKinney said. "And we had no answers."

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on Twitter at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School newsletter at rrstar.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: IHSA softball: Belvidere North is the last NIC-10 team in playoffs