2024 Daily Chronicle Softball Player of the Year: Sycamore’s Kairi Lantz

When Kairi Lantz felt she was struggling, she said her teammates were there to pick her up.

And while her numbers may not indicate much of a struggle this past season, the Sycamore sophomore catcher and Daily Chronicle Softball Player of the Year said there were times early in the season when the mental aspect of the game got to her a little.

“During conference everything began to fall into place,” Lantz said. “I wasn’t freaking out about things. My team was there and had my back. That’s just the best definition of a team. They were awesome. ... It was a little bumpy, but I think I got there in the end.”

Lantz hit .441 with seven home runs and 36 RBIs, finishing with a 1.359 OPS. She fielded at a .991 clip, only committing two errors and allowing three passed balls.

She was a key part of a young Sycamore team that finished 33-4 and reached the Class 3A Kaneland Supersectional for the second straight year, losing to state runner-up Antioch.

Sycamore coach Jill Carpenter said Lantz always came up with a big hit for the Spartans when they needed it most. In the 8-2 loss to Antioch, Lantz missed a home run in the top of the first inning by less than a foot. At the time Carpenter said it’s a whole different game if the ball went out instead of going for a two-out double.

Carpenter said Lantz’s biggest contributions came behind the plate, both in handling the pitching staff in high-pressure situations and defensively.

“It’s a thankless position, I guess you could say,” Carpenter said. “You’re catching pitching lessons for the pitcher obviously, then you’re going to your own catching lessons. It’s a tough, tough job. She only had three passed balls the entire season, and she was our primary catcher for 37 games. That’s just a mindset. That’s just a drive to be great.”

Carpenter said she’s excited to see the leap Lantz takes next year as an upperclassman, helping the Spartans deal with the fact they’ll be playing every game with a target on their back.

“Leadership knows no age. Kairi has been a leader for the two years we’ve had her in her own way,” Carpenter said. “Now the expectation is to make sure she’s bringing all the younger kids along and they’re seeing all the right things out of you. I don’t think Kairi is the type of kid who is going to be satisfied and just expect things to happen. She’s going to go to work, just as she always goes to work.”

Shortstop Keera Trautvetter was the lone starting senior for Sycamore. Thea Boubin spent most of the past two years battling injuries and did not play much. Those were the only two seniors on the Spartans team.

“I think we’re all relieved, I guess, that we have a lot of the same team, but we’re losing those amazing parts,” Lantz said. “I think that kind of worries a lot of us. We’re losing Thea, who is our team mascot. She has that energy she brings to every single game, which is what we need. Keera is our shortstop, she does amazing things, she makes amazing plays. Now we’re losing those two people, and you don’t know what’s going to happen in the future. So you’re not sure how next year is going to go.

“But a lot of us are going to come back, and with the friendship we already have, that bond, I think we will be able to make it through it without those two seniors.”

Lantz said playing in back-to-back supersectionals has been mindblowing. She said she’s learned how to handle the early-season mental aspect of the game and feels poised for a big 2025 season.

“Next year I hope I don’t worry about any of that and I play the game like I know how to play the game,” Lantz said. “I’m proud of this year and my accomplishments. I can’t expect any more or any less.”