Madisyn Buysse’s homer sends Geneseo past Sterling in Western Big 6 showdown

STERLING – Some solid glove work was on display in Tuesday’s Western Big 6 game between Sterling and Geneseo.

Both defenses were strong behind their pitchers, and the Maple Leafs’ big plays – combined with Madisyn Buysse’s three-run home run – were enough to top the Golden Warriors 3-2.

The win puts the teams in a tie for second place in the league standings, 2½ games behind Rock Island (12-1). The Rocks clinched the conference title with a 14-7 win over Quincy on Tuesday, as they only have one more WB6 game remaining.

“This is a big win for us, tying them for second place in the conference, and it was a good team win,” Buysse said. “Everyone played well, sat on the pitches and hit the ball hard, and also made plays on defense.”

Sterling starter Lily Martinez got nine straight outs to start the game, but the Leafs (21-8, 9-3 WB6) figured her out in the fourth. Avery Kennedy led off with a single, then after a diving catch by Martinez on Penny Kline’s popped-up bunt, Lillian Brown singled to center.

Buysse followed with a no-doubt blast over the right-field fence to turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 lead.

“I was looking for my pitch. I kind of knew it was going out right when I saw it off the bat,” Buysse said. “We told ourselves to sit on that outside pitch, so we just had to wait longer for it and hit it.”

That was the only mistake Martinez made. She allowed five hits and a walk while striking out three in 5⅔ innings, and her defense made several highlight plays behind her.

The biggest was Lily Cantu’s diving catch in short center field with two on and one out in the top of the fifth. She sprinted in full speed toward the sinking line drive and laid out to catch it, snuffing out a potential Leafs rally.

“Whenever I see a ball like that, I just know that I’m going to get it,” she said. “I just full-effort sprint and dive, and I usually make those catches. That play was awesome, I felt really good about it, and the dive was great.

“I love this defense,” she added. “It feels super great out there, because honestly I can trust every single body out here to make the play and give 100% effort. And even if they don’t make that play, they’re always going to bounce back and make the next one.”

Sterling (16-6, 9-3 WB6) jumped out quickly on Geneseo pitcher Kendyl Wassenhove, as Mya Lira and Marley Sechrest singled in the first inning, then Lira scored and Sechrest went to third on Martinez’s bloop double that fell between the Geneseo second baseman and right fielder and bounced away.

Sechrest then scored on Lily Cantu’s sacrifice fly, but the first of the Leafs’ half-dozen web gems – an over-the-shoulder catch of Rosie Cantu’s line drive by left fielder McKenna Johnson – kept another run off the scoreboard.

In the second, Sterling loaded the bases with two outs – the second out was another over-the-shoulder catch, this one by Geneseo center fielder Remlee Dwyer – but Sechrest just missed a grand slam when her fly ball carried deep to left field but came up just short of the fence.

After Wassenhove stranded the bases loaded in the second, she didn’t allow another baserunner until the seventh, and she pitched around Olivia Castillo’s leadoff bloop single – which was almost caught by a diving Johnson – in that final frame. She struck out seven and walked two in a five-hitter.

“They were just seeing that inside pitch and turning on it early, so I figured I had to start working the outside. Every now and then, I’d go back inside, or high, or throw a changeup, but I really worked that outside corner,” Wassenhove said about her in-game adjustments in the circle.

“I have so much confidence out there, because I know I can just put the ball right in the strike zone and let them hit it, and my defense will make the plays. I have a good defense behind me that has my back at all times.”

Lira had two hits for the Warriors, and Castillo (⅓ of an inning) and Laura Shumard (one inning) both stranded baserunners as relief pitchers.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for Sterling, which had outscored its last five opponents 64-11.

“I feel like we were doing well, and then the energy kind of got down in the dugout, and I feel like that affected our at-bats,” Lily Cantu said. “And then that home run took it out of us a little bit.”