Dual threat Brooklyn Marks stars for Sandwich in win over Newark

SANDWICH – Brooklyn Marks has a hard time choosing just one position she prefers.

Pitcher or shortstop?

“Ooooh I don’t know – I do love playing defense," Sandwich’s senior said. “I like it a lot, but pitching is my favorite.”

Fortunately for Marks, she is the unique pitcher that brings both assets to the circle, which she showcased Saturday.

Marks struck out eight in a five-hit complete game, and also made four putouts in the field. She added three hits and scored twice to boot, as Sandwich beat visiting Newark 3-1 in the regular season finale for both teams.

Marks’ eight strikeouts put her at 118, one away from tying her career-high set last year.

“She’s on fire,” Sandwich coach Mattie McGuire said. “She is a very determined pitcher, she knows her flaws and she knows her strengths and tries to learn how to balance the two. She’s worked very hard outside of practice and you can see it on the mound. She’s not just a pitcher.”

She’s an athlete, really, as pitchers claim to be.

Marks (7-5) is a two-time all-conference libero in volleyball, and fields the pitching position like a libero, first one to grounders and popups near her, a role she takes seriously.

Also Sandwich’s fastest baserunner, Marks has pop, too. She hit a homer over Sandwich’s fence in right-center this season, a cool 245 feet, just the fourth time McGuire has seen it done in 10 years.

“You don’t expect it,” McGuire said. “You can expect speed, but you look at her and don’t expect to be as scrappy and fast and how hard she swings the bat. That speaks to her overall athletic ability.”

It’s ability Marks, who played her freshman year at Aurora Central Catholic before coming to Sandwich, has worked at.

She makes the 45-minute drive to St. Charles once a week during the season to see pitching coach Jill Waldron. She brings her catcher for the last two years, Kayden Corneils, who Marks has known since they were neighbors as young kids.

Marks has made for a nice tag-team in the circle at Sandwich (13-11) with fellow senior Aubrey Cyr.

“Great duality,” McGuire said. “Her speed and strikeouts and Aubrey so much spin, command and control.”

Marks is heading up the road to Waubonsee Community College to play softball and start a path toward a career as an ultrasound technician, although McGuire believes she could walk on Division I.

“I also understand,” McGuire said, “as hard as she’s worked for a long time, she feels she needs to be home with family and morals and values.”

Marks on Saturday had one of her team’s four triples on Sandwich’s spacious home diamond. A field once used for slow-pitch softball is 225 down the lines, 285 to center.

Marks in the first inning tripled and scored on Cyr’s RBI groundout.

“It’s very big,” Marks said. “When it’s over the outfielder’s head it’s an automatic double, maybe a triple.”

Or, in the case of Cyr’s slicing liner that took a wicked hop away from the Newark right fielder, a two-run triple for a 3-0 lead in the third.

“I’ll say this,” Newark coach Jon Wood said, “there is a field, with a fence. The fence is so far back that they might as well not have a fence. It’s like rec ball. If you hit it past the outfielder it’s an automatic triple. It’s challenging on a windy day.”

Wood’s Norsemen (17-14-1), who came in riding a seven-game win streak, were shut out for five innings by Marks before rallying in the sixth.

Bailey Schutter singled in Kate Bromeland as Corneils was called for blocking the plate, but Marks came back to get an inning-ending strikeout to strand two runners.

“Brooklyn Marks is a heck of a pitcher. As a coach you want to see good pitching going into the postseason, and we saw that today,” Wood said. “Could have gone either way. We gave ourselves a chance at the end.”

While Sandwich heads west to Princeton for a Class 2A regional, Newark is at Indian Creek in Class 1A. A regional title, and Newark could get a third meeting with Little Ten Conference co-champ Serena in sectionals.

“Oh man, I hope so,” Wood said. “We have a grudge match with them. They are fun to play against.”