Seering, Ciran spark St. Charles North past Bartlett
St. Charles North softball coach April Stary prefers the games when her team doesn't wait until the middle innings to establish its dominance.
But as long as the North Stars get the job done, Stary can live with a little waiting period.
Amanda Seering broke a scoreless tie with a two-run line drive home run over the center field fence in the top of the south inning Monday and St. Charles North (19-2, 11-1) went on to a 6-1 win over Bartlett in an Upstate Eight Conference showdown at Bartlett.
The win keeps the North Stars a game ahead of the pack in the loss column in the UEC. Lake Park, which hosts Bartlett on Wednesday, is now in second place 1 game back. The North Stars and Lancers play on May 11 at Lake Park.
"It's Monday," said Stary, "and maybe that's why it took a little longer to get going. Today it just took a little longer."
The tone of game may have been decided in the bottom of the first inning when North's Amanda Ciran worked out of a potentially dangerous jam. With one out, Bartlett (15-7, 9-3) used a hit batter and two SCN errors to load the bases. But Ciran got Lauren Chuchvara to pop up for the second out and Kaylyn Zierke to ground out to end the inning with no damage done.
"That was like a wake-up call for us," said Ciran, who allowed 6 hits and had 7 strikeouts and no walks in running her record to 9-0. "Who knows where they could have gone with that inning. We all know Bartlett is a tough competitor. They always have been and always will be."
The North Stars finally got their offense going against Bartlett senior Callie Dennison (12-5) in the fourth. Sydney Russell led off with a single and advanced to second on an outfield error then third on Taylor Russell's bunt. Seering then took an 0-2 pitch and launched it well over the center field fence for all the runs Ciran and the Stars would need.
"I do think about changing the game when it's a big one like this," admitted Seering. "It's important to step up and do my job. My first thought was 'why did you pitch me that?' It was right there."
St. Charles North tacked on a run in the fifth. Natalie Capone led off by slapping a triple to the fence in right-center and after Loren Cihlar drew a walk, Bartlett threw through when Cihlar stole second and Capone scored easily. The Stars added three more in the sixth, using three Bartlett errors and an RBI sacrifice fly from Taylor Russell to help the cause. JuliaClare Plezbert doubled in the inning and Cihlar had a hit as well.
"We don't have a whole lot of super highs or super lows," Stary said of her team's demeanor. "They just keep after it and get it done. Amanda kept them off balance today and stayed with the strike zone the umpire was calling."
Ciran kept Bartlett off balance all day with a combination of good velocity, pinpoint spotting and a nasty changeup.
"I love that changeup," Ciran said. "I know it can make them look silly."
Bartlett avoided the shutout in the bottom of the sixth when Jacki Gulczynski's groundout drove home Chuchvara, who had singled to open the inning then went to second on a throwing error and third on Megan Morales' groundout. The Hawks had other chances to score but left 8 runners on base. Dennison had 2 hits for the Hawks.
"This game was a game of opportunity," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "They had opportunities they capitalized on and we had opportunities to capitalize on that we didn't. Give (Ciran) a lot of credit. She made the pitches she had to when she had to.
"They're the real deal right now. You know you're in for a battle against their lineup."
Wolfsmith knows his team is still in the UEC race, but he also knows anything can happen later this month when the postseason begins.
"Our job is to be the best team standing at the end of the year and make it to the supersectional or beyond like we did last year," he said. "These games are building blocks to get to that point."