Hanover Central junior catcher Sienna Stilley was in an unfamiliar spot.
Instead of batting third, the Jacksonville State commit was the Wildcats’ leadoff hitter in the first round of the Class 3A Lowell Sectional on Tuesday.
“Today’s the first day I ever led off in my entire life,” Stilley said. “I was a little nervous, but nothing obviously changes. You’re still going up there to swing the bat. But it’s a different look because you’re starting off the game. But once you get into the flow, it’s not that bad.”
Indeed, Stilley produced familiar results, hitting a grand slam as Hanover Central held off Illiana Christian 6-5.
Her 12th homer of the season came in the fourth inning on a 3-2 pitch, and the liner over the left-field fence gave the Wildcats a 6-1 lead.
“I was pretty confident,” Stilley said. “Once the bases got loaded, I knew they had to throw to me at that point. That boosted my confidence.
“Unfortunately, she did miss with a low screwball, or something low and inside on me, and that’s my favorite. I was able to turn on it pretty quickly.”
Stilley, a top center in basketball who also drew a pair of walks, rewarded Hanover Central coach Sam Antkiewicz’s decision to put her atop the lineup. She entered the game batting .536 with nine doubles, 41 RBIs and 19 walks, topping the Wildcats (12-12) in each category. They will play Northwest Crossroads Conference foe Kankakee Valley (14-11) in the sectional semifinals on Thursday.
“One heck of a hitter,” Antkiewicz said. “Right person, right time, right spot. We couldn’t have asked for anything better. She’s just a really great hitter right now. She’s honed in. She knows what she’s looking for.
“She fouled off a bunch of pitches too. They were trying to work away, work away, work away. She finally got her pitch, and she was able to drive it. Tremendous lift, tremendous lift for this team. Hopefully we can continue to ride that. We’ve been struggling to score runs the last couple of weeks, so that was a really, really big hit for us and lifted our spirits and our energy.”
Illiana Christian (19-10) drew to 6-4 with three runs in the sixth on sophomore catcher Mya VanderWoude’s sacrifice fly and senior left fielder Adeline Mulder’s two-run single, her second hit of the game.
The Vikings loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh and cut their deficit to one run when senior third baseman Lauren Sherwood bunted for a hit with one out.
But Hanover Central sophomore left fielder Nora Edgerton snagged a slicing liner by standout senior shortstop Lydia VanderWoude to end the game. Lydia VanderWoude, a Belmont recruit, had drawn a walk in each of her first four plate appearances.
“I was nervous,” Edgerton said. “I also didn’t know where our center fielder was. Then when I was going for it, the wind took it, and I had to really adjust how I was standing.”
Edgerton, who also bunted for two hits, isn’t surprised Stilley was able to adjust too.
“She’s the biggest impact on our team, especially with her bat,” Edgerton said. “Just her energy and just everything.”
