Softball: Kisch, Burlington Central dispose of Sycamore

Sometimes hitting is contagious. Burlington Central's softball team provided further proof of that Tuesday.

Emily Kisch's 2-out fourth-inning double ignited a 4-run rally that carried the Rockets to a 5-2 victory in the semifinals of the Class 3A Sycamore regional.

The Rockets (25-7) will play for the regional title Saturday morning against the winner of Wednesday's game between Freeport and Genoa-Kingston.

Hopes of a regional title were fading with the Rockets trailing 2-1 in the fourth. They had some chances against Spartan starter Isabel Odom, but couldn't get the big hit they needed.

Then with two on in the fourth, Kisch launched a drive that almost cleared the fence in straightaway center field. That scored both runners and chased Odom. Kelly Wiater and Kristina Ahlers greeted reliever Madison Parks with run-scoring doubles to give the Rockets some breathing room.

"At the time the 2 RBIs were really nice and convenient," Kisch said. "It helped our team get energized and we started hitting and started stringing our hits together, so it was really good."

Kisch, in the circle, made it stand up. She retired the last 7 batters she faced to nail down the victory. She walked 3 and struck out 11, allowing just 3 hits.

It was no surprise that Kisch, Wiater, and Ahlers, the first 3 hitters in the Rockets' lineup, came up with big hits. But Central got contributions from everywhere in the lineup.

Madison Leone had 2 hits, including an RBI double that got the Rockets on the board in the second. She also singled and scored the first run in the big fourth inning.

"Some of the girls who don't normally get a lot of hits, like Madison, she did a great job today," said Central coach Erica Maisto.

Ashley Ratliff took one for the team. She got hit by a pitch and wound up scoring the Rockets' first run.

Sycamore tied it on an unearned run in the third, and Anna Criswell's run-scoring double put the Spartans ahead in the top of the fourth.