{"id":41987,"date":"2026-03-31T02:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T02:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/41987\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T02:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T02:30:09","slug":"samantha-hughes-waubonsie-valley-get-past-geneva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/41987\/","title":{"rendered":"Samantha Hughes, Waubonsie Valley get past Geneva"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was one hard knock for Waubonsie Valley\u2019s Samantha Hughes<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, it wasn\u2019t a base hit that got delivered with the swing of a bat. It came instead on a pitch that was fouled off by an opposing hitter \u2014 and went directly off Hughes\u2019 catcher\u2019s helmet.<\/p>\n

The result was a concussion that cost her half of the season last year in her varsity debut as a freshman. Now a sophomore, Hughes is slowly getting back into the swing of things.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe mainly catches, but she played first base (Monday),\u201d Waubonsie coach Valerie Wood<\/a> said of Hughes. \u201cWe\u2019re trying her at different positions as we\u2019re trying to iron out the lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cA batter got a piece of the ball and she got hit with the foul ball and was out the whole last half. It was tough because she\u2019s very solid at the plate and behind the plate catching as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking advantage of the best day of weather this spring, Hughes took on a starring role again, going 1-for-3 with three RBIs for the Warriors in a 4-3 nonconference victory at Geneva.<\/p>\n

\"WaubonsieWaubonsie Valley’s Samantha Hughes (15) makes contact against Geneva during a nonconference game in Geneva on Monday, March 30, 2026. (Mark Black \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

Hughes gave Waubonsie (4-2) the early lead with a sacrifice fly to center to score the first of two runs in the first inning. In the fifth, however, the Vikings (0-5) came through and forced a 2-2 tie.<\/p>\n

But then in the fifth, Hughes delivered a sharp two-out single to right-center to drive in two more runs with what proved to be the game-winner for the Warriors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does feel good,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cI haven\u2019t had a hit in a while, so it feels to get out here and get some hits in. It\u2019s been a little frustrating bouncing back, but I have people on this team who will calm me down when those frustrations mount so I know not to get too mad.\u201d<\/p>\n

One is sophomore pitcher Molly Quinn<\/a>. The hard-throwing left-hander was in the circle last season when Hughes was injured and won her duel Monday with Geneva junior Madison Gates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"WaubonsieWaubonsie Valley’s Samantha Hughes (15) makes a catch at first base against Geneva during a nonconference game in Geneva on Monday, March 30, 2026. (Mark Black \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

Quinn struck out 11, walked five and scattered four hits for her third win of the season.<\/p>\n

Sophomore shortstop Clara Lyons<\/a> landed an RBI double and sophomore first baseman Summer Ayersman<\/a> added an RBI single in the third inning for the Geneva (0-5).<\/p>\n

In her three wins, Quinn has registered 15, 13 and 11 strikeouts, respectively.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t expect that every game \u2014 not yet,\u201d Wood said. \u201cBut she has come out with a vengeance this year. She wants to play at the next level and she\u2019s getting real serious about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WaubonsieWaubonsie Valley’s Samantha Hughes (15) celebrates her go-ahead two-run single against Geneva in the fifth inning of a nonconference game in Geneva on Monday, March 30, 2026. (Mark Black \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

Likewise, Hughes is on a mission to play at the next level.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s working through the ranks,\u201d Wood said of Hughes, who also plays the outfield for her Wheatland Spikes travel team.<\/p>\n

Hughes and Quinn are both 6-foot and focus solely on softball.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried out as a pitcher when I first started playing but realized that\u2019s not what I do, so I thought I should just try catching,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cI tried it for a few games, figured out I loved it and that\u2019s just how it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

She confirmed her holder brother Jason, who played baseball, was an influence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had to follow in his footsteps somehow,\u201d Hughes said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t play baseball. Softball is the next best thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"WaubonsieWaubonsie Valley’s Samantha Hughes (15) cheers on her team from first base against Geneva during a nonconference game in Geneva on Monday, March 30, 2026. (Mark Black \/ The Beacon-News)<\/p>\n

The concussion, though, put her on the shelf for a time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had really bad headaches like every day and was sensitive to light,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t like think all the way, if that makes any sense. There were times I struggled to concentrate on one thing, but others I was concentrating on one thing for half the day. It was really weird.\u201d<\/p>\n

Was it tough getting back behind the plate?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was but I had all summer to figure it out,\u201d she said. \u201cThe second I got cleared, I wanted to go back full force, but in the end I didn\u2019t push myself too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was one hard knock for Waubonsie Valley\u2019s Samantha Hughes. Unfortunately, it wasn\u2019t a base hit that got…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41988,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7],"tags":[6606,6607,6608,6609,65,6610,899,24351,24352],"class_list":["post-41987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-geneva","tag-aurora-beacon-news","tag-aurora-beacon-news-sports","tag-elgin-courier-news","tag-elgin-courier-news-sports","tag-geneva","tag-high-school-sports","tag-local-news","tag-naperville-sun","tag-naperville-sun-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116321440528175420","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41987"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41987\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41987"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41987"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41987"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}