St. Charles East baseball, softball both on top of River

After his team wins, St. Charles East baseball coach Len Asquini can often be heard saying, "it's a great day to be a Saint."

There have been plenty of 'great days' lately for both the Saints' baseball and softball teams.

On the baseball diamond, the Saints are off to an 11-2 overall start and began the week perched atop the Upstate Eight Conference River Division standings with an unblemished 6-0 record.

Just up the road, the Saints' softball team is also enjoying life these days.

Coach Kelly Horan's squad improved to 14-1 overall and 7-0 in conference play with Monday's 15-7 triumph over host Batavia.

While the Saints' softball team has often overpowered its opponents - having scored 9 or more runs in 9 of its 15 games, the Saints' baseball team has relied on a stingy starting pitching rotation to rack up 9 consecutive victories heading into today's game against Geneva.

Last week, pitchers Austin Regelbrugge, Mick Vyzral, Kyle Cook and Matt Breidigan fired back-to-back-to-back-to-back complete game shutouts against UEC River foe Elgin (3 games) and Huntley.

That's 4 shutouts - 26 consecutive scoreless innings of baseball.

"Shutting out anybody like that - 3 in a row in conference," said Asquini. "It's my second tenure here. That covers four years and then Mark's (assistant coach Foulkes) six years when he was the head coach and we never did that - 3 shutouts in a row. I'd have to look and I don't remember (doing it in my first tenure as head coach) but we certainly didn't have four in a row.

"It just tells you how they've attacked the zone, how they're able to throw multiple pitches in the zone and then how the defense has been because it's not just the pitchers going out there and striking out 15. That's not what is happening here. Those are 5- to 8-strikeout games."

Regelbrugge, a senior left-hander, tossed a no-hitter as the Saints opened the week with a 13-0, 5-inning victory over Elgin.

Last Wednesday, hard-throwing senior right-hander Vyzral fired a 2-hitter with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts during the Saints' 1-0 win over the Maroons.

One day later, Cook, a senior, limited the Maroons to just 5 hits while fanning 6 and walking 1 in the Saints' 4-0 whitewash.

Breidigan, a junior right-hander, tossed a 2-hitter while out-dueling Brandon Altergott during the Saints' 1-0 nonconference triumph over the Red Raiders last Friday.

"If you look at their pitch counts, Mick threw the most pitches that second game - 92," said Asquini. "Austin only had a 5-inning game so obviously he didn't throw that many (pitches). Kyle Cook was at 84 (pitches) and Matt Breidigan was just in the 80s. Our defense has made some mistakes but our kids on the mound have pitched very well."

Even more impressive was the fact that Vyzral and Breidigan had little room for error during their 1-0 wins.

"Teams had guys in scoring position but they made big pitches and we made big plays out there," said Asquini, whose team finally allowed a run during Saturday's 12-4 nonconference win over St. Francis.

The Saints now face the meat of their schedule, including a pair of 3-game series against Geneva (today through Thursday) and St. Charles North (April 28-30).

"We'll be challenged tremendously these next eight games," said Asquini. "We always look forward to those challenges."

St. Charles East's softball team has responded to nearly every challenge generated by its opposition this season.

The lone blemish on the Saints' record is an 11-3 loss to Fremd - in the second game of a nonconference doubleheader on April 11.

A balanced offensive attack, led by seniors Alex Latoria and Olivia Cheatham, juniors Cat Crossen, Katie Kolb, Jordan Hall and Kelly Rinker, sophomores Delaney Devor, Jordan Hieber and Rylee Stout, and freshman Madelyn Candre, has provided plenty of run support for pitchers Hall (8-0), Latoria, Hieber and Devor.

"It's not the same way every day," said Horan. "It has been working out pretty OK for us. Everybody is stepping up. If the person ahead of them isn't playing great or seeing the ball well, then I feel like our kids take extra pride in being the person that picks them up.

"There's a lot of togetherness right now. That's what is exciting to see. It's not the same person every day."

A perfect example of that "togetherness" came during Monday's victory over Batavia.

Seven different players, led by Stout (4-for-5) and Rinker (4-for-6), enjoyed multihit games as the Saints unloaded on Bulldogs pitching for 21 base hits.

"Once one of us hits, we all start hitting," said Hieber, who 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and 3 RBI against Batavia. "It's very contagious. It's like a chain reaction."

Due to the players' versatility, Horan has a variety of defensive options for her team as well.

Devor has played right and left field, third base and pitcher, while Candre has played all 3 outfield positions. Rinker has played first and third base, Cheatham has played shortstop, second and third base, Stout has played catcher and third base, and senior Molly McGovern has played left and right field.

"We're all about the team here," said Horan, whose team faces a busy week that includes home games against Waubonsie Valley (today) and St. Charles North (Wednesday) and its own 2-day tournament (Friday and Saturday). "The kids believe that. That makes it pretty fun to come to school to work here every day.

"We've got eight games this week and we're off to a good start. You can't win them all until you win the first one."

As Asquini says, it's a great time to be a Saint.

You can reach Craig Brueske at csb4k@hotmail.com