St. Charles East dethrones St. Charles North

After a five-year run for St. Charles North, there's a new team on top of the River - the school from the other side of the river.

Or as North Stars coach Tom Poulin put it, "Well, we have a rivalry now. Right? They have a win. That makes it a rivalry. Isn't that what they always say?"

Yes, indeed. A rivalry, indeed.

St. Charles East removed a giant-sized monkey from its back Tuesday, riding a brilliantly pitched game from Haley Beno, a 3-for-3 day from leadoff hitter Tess Hupe and one clutch swing by Sarah Collalti for a 1-0 victory at St. Charles North.

With the win St. Charles East (27-5, 17-2) clinched a share of its first conference championship in at least 10 years, according to coach Kelly Horan, whose team can win the Upstate Eight River outright by beating Larkin on Friday.

As Poulin said, for all the great softball players on both sides, the series had not been much of a rivalry lately with St. Charles North (18-7, 14-3) winning not only the last five conference championships but dominating the head-to-head in his four years as coach and three as an assistant.

"It's been a long time," Hupe said. "We've always put so much pressure on ourselves and today we just talked about nothing to lose, play our game and have fun and we just enjoyed ourselves and it paid off.

"We talked about keeping the stress off ourselves. It's just about playing softball, it's not about the other team's name on their jersey."

Beno, Hupe and Collalti had all been on the losing side of those previous matchups, including a 5-1 loss earlier this season, which made Tuesday's win all the sweeter.

"I have literally never beat them," Beno said. "It means a lot to me. We're all really excited about it."

Beno (17-4) dominated, allowing only a Mickey Goetz single in the fourth and an Erin Nemetz single in the sixth. She struck out 10 and walked four.

Clinging to a 1-run lead, Beno struck out the side in the seventh.

"Beno was lights out," Poulin said. "She gets all the credit. We couldn't hit Beno. That hasn't been the case in the past. You have to tip your cap. She shut us down."

One key to Beno's performance was keeping North Stars speedy leadoff hitter Sabrina Rabin off base all three at-bats. Third baseman Alex Latoria made the play the first two times before Beno caught Rabin looking in the fifth inning.

"She's so fast, if she gets on it is hard to keep her from scoring," Beno said. "Al (Latoria) made the play every time.

"I was just throwing what coach was calling. They were hitting it but my defense was making great plays behind me."

Rabin also pitched well for the North Stars. She allowed 4 hits and 1 walk, striking out three.

Second baseman Kaitlyn Waslawski saved a run in the third by racing back into short right field to reach out and rob Olivia Cheatham of a bloop hit that would have scored Hupe.

Waslawski took another hit away in the fifth by diving to her left and throwing out Mackenzie Lofgren. That left the Saints with nobody on and two outs, but they quickly struck for the game's only run.

Hupe, who had gone the opposite way for her first two hits, dropped a bunt that barely stayed fair down the first-base line.

"I had been hitting outside all game," Hupe said. "I was expecting something different and it came right in and I just kept my hands inside and sometimes it goes your way. I guess that was today."

Collalti followed with a rocket to deep left field that froze the left fielder for a second and then went over her head to score Hupe from first base.

"I had been seeing a lot of low outside, that pitch was high and I tried to stay on top of it," Collalti said. "I obviously had not got on base during the game so I was definitely feeling a little bit of pressure. I knew after all the hitting practices and all the hitting I've done in softball it would eventually pull through. Just in time."

The North Stars' best chance against Beno came in the fourth, loading the bases with two outs before Beno got a called third strike on the inside corner.

The North Stars put runners at first and second in the sixth. Beno induced a pop to Cheatham at shortstop to end the threat.

"She was hitting her spots," Horan said. "We were taking advantage of the umpire's zone and the defense behind her really stepped up. When you play a good team like they are you have to play great defense.

"When you talk about who really played great today you are talking about Tess, you are talking about Beno, you are talking about Sarah and what's one thing that's consistent about those three? They are three-year varsity starters that have played in a ton of tough situations. They have played in championship games and that's what today was. We are going to enjoy tonight but ultimately we have bigger goals than this."

That also goes for the North Stars who as the No. 4 seed in the Class 4A Bartlett sectional could see the third-seeded Saints one more time if both teams make it to the sectional championship game.

"We played very well behind Sabrina. We misplayed one. In a tournament-style game that's it," Poulin said. "It's disappointing because we feel we are as good as anyone in the conference but we didn't earn it today. We got beat."