Marist catcher Lexi Kyros doesn’t want her battery mate, Soleil Tate, to work any harder than she has to.
So Kyros gave Tate some breathing room early in the Class 4A Marist Sectional final on May 29.
“I was just trying to wait on a ball and hammer it to the right side,” Kyros said.
Mission accomplished: Kyros slugged a three-run homer in a six-run first inning and the RedHawks were off and running to a 10-0, five-inning win against Riverside-Brookfield.
“It helps me just get the pressure off of her (so she can) just focus on getting one pitch at a time, getting strikes,” Kyros said of Tate.
It’s been a winning strategy all spring, and that continued against R-B.
Tate, a Wisconsin commit, pitched a one-hitter with no walks and six strikeouts as Marist won its seventh straight sectional title. She also homered and drove in two runs.
Kyros finished 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs and three RBIs, while Notre Dame commit Layla Peters homered, drove in two runs and scored two. Maddie Rogers also hit a home run for Marist.
Mia Melendez had the only hit for R-B, which finished 27-5.
What’s the secret sauce for the RedHawks?
“Our program — all of us are like sisters, best friends,” Kyros said. “We just stay tight-knit within our program and we all believe in each other. I think that’s what sets us apart.”
Kyros, who is committed to Michigan, has 12 home runs and is one of several power threats for the RedHawks. They have around 50 homers this season, which isn’t even among the program’s highest totals in recent years.
“I had a team that hit 95, and then before that team, one that hit like 80,” Marist coach Colleen Phelan said. “This team is special because they hit the doubles, they hit the long ball, they could bunt, they could field … they do everything really well.”
That description certainly applies to Kyros.
“She’s a special kid,” Phelan said. “She’s a great, great player, but she’s a leader, too. She builds us up defensively, she builds us up offensively and she’s … one of our hype girls as well.”
Marist’s batting order is a handful for opposing pitchers, with Peters, Tate, Kyros and Saint Louis commit Ellie Holmstrom hitting third through sixth.
“They can’t pitch around Soleil when Lexi Kyros is behind her, that’s for sure,” Phelan said. And then they can’t pitch around Layla Peters with Soleil behind her.. And then Ellie Holmstrom is hitting almost .500 this year. … So our lineup is just a threat, one through nine, and it’s a pitcher’s nightmare.”