Softball: St. Charles East, Hall stymie Geneva

With the reigning Upstate Eight Conference River pitcher of the year on its side, St. Charles East is a pretty confident club when Jordan Hall is in the circle.

The third-year varsity pitcher was at the top of her game Friday, throwing a 2-hit shutout in a 2-0 win over Geneva.

The win keeps St. Charles East (25-4, 11-3) a game behind St. Charles North in the loss column in the River standings.

"She was in control from start to finish," Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. "All her pitches were hitting spots. She was throwing ground balls, the defense was working. It was a well-played game."

Annika Radabaugh and Sarah Baurer both singled for the Vikings' only hits of the game. Hall did not walk a batter and struck out three, two in the seventh inning.

"I got them off-balance with my changeup," Hall said. "After the loss against (St. Charles) North (last Friday), I just wanted to help my team out and contribute any way I could. I had great defense behind me."

The Saints committed just 1 error while Geneva (20-8, 10-6) didn't have any in a game played in a light rain.

Hall, headed to Minnesota State, also helped herself at the plate with 1 of the Saints' 7 hits against Geneva's Rachel Fanella.

St. Charles East scored both of its runs in the fourth inning on RBI hits from Maddie Candre and Paige Ligocki.

Those 2 runs were all Hall needed.

"She's done this plenty of times this season," Gutesha said. "I know she's excited every time she goes out there and wants to do well for her teammates behind her. This is something she's worked for and definitely has done a nice job."

Katie Kolb also had 2 hits for the Saints.

"For the most part we played solid defensively," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. "Rachel pitched a great game, gave us every chance possible. Hall pitched a strong game against us today. I was happy with how we played."