Jackson Kees strikes out 10 as DeKalb takes DVC series: Daily Chronicle sports roundup for Thursday

Prep baseball

DeKalb 5, Naperville Central 1: At Naperville, Jackson Kees pitched a five-hitter, striking out 10, Thursday as the Barbs took the rubber game of the DuPage Valley Conference series to move into second place.

Kees allowed one earned run and walked two. Isaac Black had two hits and scored twice for DeKalb (17-9, 7-5). Nik Nelson had two hits and drove in two runs in the leadoff spot. Maddux Clarence had two of DeKalb’s nine hits.

Ottawa 3, Kaneland 2: At Ottawa, the teams combined for six hits, four by the Knights in the loss.

Anthony Campise had a double for Kaneland.

Genoa-Kingston 9, Rockford Christian 9 (susp.): At Genoa, a lengthy lightning delay resulted in a tie after seven innings due to darkness.

Tristan Swenson doubled, reached third on a passed ball, then scored the tying run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. That capped a 3-for-5 day in which he scored twice and drove in a run. Gavin Havener added two hits for the Cogs.

Dwight 20, Hinckley-BIg Rock 1: At Dwight, the Royals were outhit 15-4 in the four-inning loss.

Martin Ledbetter and Jacob Orin had two hits each in the loss.

Somonauk 20, Indian Creek 5: At Shabbona, a 13-run sixth inning led the Bobcats to the win.

The game was tied 5-5 after four. Kason Murry had two hits for the Timberwolves, who committed seven errors in the loss.

Alden-Hebron 6, Hiawatha 5: At Hebron, the Hawks fell in a nonconference game.

Prep softball

Rock Falls 14, Genoa-Kingston 3: At Genoa, the Rockets avenged an 11-3 loss earlier this year.

Seven Cogs had hits, including doubles by Reagan Tomlinson, Lizzy Davis and Lily Provost. Kiki Mitchell drove in two runs.

Hiawatha 20, Alden-Hebron 4: At Hebron, the Hawks improved to 4-11-1 with the nonconference win.

Somonauk 17, Indian Creek 4: At Shabbona, seven errors doomed the Timberwolves in the loss.

Emily Frazier was 2 for 2 with two RBIs and scored in the loss.

St. Charles North 16, Kaneland 1: At Maple Park, Kaneland managed three hits in the loss. Izzy Strombes scored, and Corrine Pugh had the RBI.

Girls soccer

Sycamore 2, Winnebago 0: At Winnebago, Anya Berry and Cortni Kurizenga had goals for the Spartans (13-7), while Addison Rodriguez and Kylie Runkle had assists.

Genoa-Kingston 3, Hinckley-Big Rock 2: At Genoa, Zoe Nieves scored the winning goal late on a corner kick by Sam Wendt.

Wendt and Ally Peogel scored in the first half as the Cogs built a 2-0 lead before the Royals tied it.

Girls track and field

DuPage Valley Conference Championships: At Naperville North, DeKalb finished with 43 points to take fifth.

Senior Joscelyn Dieckman cleared 3.73 meters to win the pole vault. Freshman Tawonna Keith was second in the high jump, clearing 1.52 meters. Sophomore Angela Gary was third in both the shot put with a personal-best throw of 10.35 meters and the discus (32.33).

Dieckman may not have reached new heights in the meet, but it was a big breakthrough for last year’s state runner-up in the event. She took first at 12-3, to hold off Neuqua Valley’s Kamila Szczepanik (11-9) but more importantly said she felt great about her state of mind while competing.

“I feel pretty good. This season has really been a battle for me,” Dieckman said. “Coming off last season, I jumped 13-3½ after state, and this year I came in with really high expectations, and there was really a hard time for me at the beginning of the year and through all of offseason.

“I went through a very bad mental block. I went through some physical injuries, as well.”

But the conference meet brought back her strong approach and is sending the Barbs senior to sectionals with a revived confidence.

“Today is the first time all season I have taken my full approach jumps in a meet,” she said. “Bigger than any height, that’s what means most to me. That I managed to come in here and beat that mental block. A couple of my really close senior friends are here … the DVC pole vault team is very very close. So, it was really nice to go out my last one with them, and really just start fighting back that mental block and doing the best that I can.”

Big Northern Conference Championships: At Hinder’s Field, the Cogs were ninth with 36 points.

Addison Vicary had the top finish for the Cogs, tied for second in the high jump by clearing 1.52 meters.

Bass fishing

Shabbona Lake Sectional: At Shabbona, the DeKalb team of Charlie VanderBleek and Ava Holley won the sectional with five fish caught totaling 12.38 pounds, more than 3 pounds ahead of the closest team.

Indian Creek’s Payton Huber had the big catch of the day at 2.8 pounds.

* Daily Herald correspondent Stan Goff contributed to this report.