'It's pretty amazing': Hononegah softball rolls to 22-1 record as 1 of youngest teams in NIC-10

Asked just before the season what he thought his team was capable of this year, Hononegah's veteran softball coach Dennis McKinney exclaimed: "I think we'll be good, but it may take some time."

He was 1-for-2.

Hononegah has been very good, and this year's softball team did not need any time to gel.

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"I don't think any of us really expected this," said McKinney, who is just in his fourth year as Hononegah's head coach, but he's been coaching softball around the Rockford area for decades. "We're really young, but boy did we come together quickly."

Hononegah was 22-1 overall and 14-0 in NIC-10 play when their final matchup with Harlem was postponed due to rain, pushing it from this Thursday to next Thursday. They were scheduled to host three straight non-conference games this Friday and Saturday.

Their lone loss on the season came in the second game of the year, and it was a 14-1 beatdown at the hands of Antioch, which was 20-3 midweek this week.

Back then, none of them were sure of what was to come.

"As a team, in the beginning, we kind of thought we might not be as strong this year," senior catcher Dani Franz said. "But once games started, there was no difference from how it used to be. We all just started performing."

Franz is hitting .413 with five homers, 11 doubles, 30 RBIs and 26 runs scored, and a lot of the team has fallen in right behind her. Hononegah rattled off 21 straight wins since the loss, winning any way they can. They have nine shutouts in the winning streak, 14 wins by five or more runs, and five games that they won by three or fewer runs.

They are hitting .370 as a team, and there doesn't seem to be any weaknesses right now. And that's from a team that is, most of the time, playing three freshmen and three sophomores.

"I knew we were going to be a pretty strong team; I was expecting it, because Hononegah is always good," said freshman leadoff hitter Kaelyn Kelly. "Everyone on this team is so supportive of each other, and they just kind of know what to expect from everybody. So it came together pretty quick."

Kelly leads the team in plate appearances (78), hits (33) and runs scored (26), and has molded right in. She's a good example of how and why this team came together quickly, regardless of age.

And having a strong coaching staff helps as well.

McKinney, who also runs the Stateline Fury softball program, is 93-17-1 in his fourth year at the helm of the Hononegah program. And this season might be his most masterful work yet.

At the end of last season — which ended just two games into the postseason — Hononegah lost four seniors that were on an all-conference team, including three first-teamers that had been staples on the varsity team. They came into this year with just two seniors, and a slew of freshmen and sophomores that were slated to get a lot of playing time.

Cohesiveness was looked at as a possible problem.

Well, at some point in their 22-1 start, that problem was quietly solved. It helps when your ace on the mound snuck up on everybody.

"I just kind of realized that I have to step up. There was no choice," said sophomore Aislyn Palmer, who has a 1.28 ERA with 96 strikeouts and 11 walks on the mound this year. She also leads the team with six home runs and is hitting .333. "We've all kind of upped our game... Everybody in the lineup has contributed, and we have some good players on this team.

"If we just stay focused and just keep doing what we've been doing, this whole year, we can go a long ways with this team. It's pretty amazing, with how young we are."

Hononegah must get through next week's gauntlet of teams to snag the NIC-10 title. It is at Boylan on Monday; at Belvidere North, in second with one conference loss, on Wednesday; at Harlem, in third with two conference losses, on Thursday; and then at home against Guilford to close out the regular season on Friday.

Then it's on to the postseason.

"These kids have just bought in, and there's no telling how far they can go," McKinney said. "It's pretty amazing."

Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @JayTaft. Sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Despite having 1 of youngest NIC-10 teams, Hononegah softball rolls to 22-1