Batting in the leadoff spot for Yorkville, junior second baseman Makenzie Sweeney knows a potent offense begins with her.

That’s not where it ends, however.

There are threats up and down the lineup coach Jory Regnier fills out each game.

“I just go up there and tell myself ‘base hit’ and try to make contact with the ball,” Sweeney said. “I know I’m (the) leadoff (hitter) and I’m trying to feel things out.

“My favorite part is doing my job and helping the team out. I know everyone behind me can do the job, too.”

That was certainly true Friday as the Foxes beat Wheaton Warrenville South 10-0 in five innings behind Madi Reeves in the Class 4A Oswego Sectional championship game.

Sweeney started the scoring for Yorkville (34-2) with a two-run single that broke a scoreless tie and sparked a six-run third inning. One inning later, she added a double.

That drive to the right field fence during a four-run fourth set the stage for the quick ending as Reeves (23-1) struck out the side against the Tigers (19-13) in the fifth.

“She can hit doubles all day,” Regnier said of Sweeney. “She’s strong like all our girls. They put a lot of work in the weight room. What makes Kenzie more dynamic is she produces speed.

“She can bunt for a hit. She can hit a double. She can fake a bunt and short swing for a double or she can go all the way out. I don’t think people are expecting that, so they might play her in a little bit, thinking she is just speed, which she is absolutely not.”

Sweeney had plenty of company as the Foxes won the program’s second sectional title and also the second in three years.

Sara Ebner and Jensen Krantz produced two-run doubles. Kaitlyn Roberts had a two-run single, while Kayla Kersting and Katlyn Schraeder contributed RBI singles.

Regan Bishop and Ally Stancel also had singles to complete a nine-hit attack for the Foxes, who advance to play at 4:30 p.m. Monday against Bradley-Bourbonnais (24-5) in the Illinois Wesleyan Supersectional.

“I don’t even know what to say,” said Reeves, the senior right-hander and Miami of Ohio recruit who pitched a one-hit gem. “There’s no words to describe this team behind me.

“We have chemistry. We have the skill. We have the drive. We want more.”

Reeves, who also pitched the program’s other win for a sectional title as a sophomore, struck out eight and walked one. The lone hit was on a soft liner to right field by Brooke Struebing.

“Their pitcher is strong,” Wheaton Warrenville South coach Jeff Pawlak said. “Nothing she did surprised us. She throws inside and she throws hard. We got overpowered — plain and simple. That’s a really good team.

“In the field, they’re all athletic. They all can steal. They’ve all got wheels. When they get on base, they put a lot of pressure on you. And they can hit. They can straight up hit.”

And it starts with Sweeney.

She’s batting .286 with 28 hits but has a .355 on-base percentage, reaching base on walks 10 times, hit by pitch once and on an error 15 more times.

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No doubt, her speed pressures the opposing defense.

“You have to be a threat at the beginning of the lineup or get pitchers to throw lots of pitches,” Regnier said. “As a leadoff, that’s what we’re expecting you to do.

“You’re the tone setter, and that’s what she does.”

In between sectional championship wins, the Foxes were upset last spring in a sectional semifinal by West Aurora.

“Last year was disappointing,” Regnier said. “But we addressed that early and said last year was last year — got to work on the group of kids we have now because this is a different team.”

Seven of the eight seniors this season were on the varsity as sophomores, with most playing key roles.

“A lot of the girls know where we’ve been and know where we want to be and have worked hard, physically and mentally to prepare,” Regnier said. “We’re not done yet.”