Softball: St. Francis coach Remus reaches 400 wins
Many highlights came from Saturday's softball doubleheader at St. Francis against DePaul College Prep. On top of the list was a milestone for Spartans coach Ralph Remus.
The 15-1 and 10-0 victories, both in five innings, over the Rams were enough for Remus to reach the 400 victories milestone. He has been coach for 19 years and with been with the program 21 years.
"I never thought I would be around that long. I have had a great time. The kids are great to work with and be around. There's no end in sight. I am very happy to be at St. Francis," he said.
The wins pushed the Spartans to 18-3 overall and 8-0 in the Girls Catholic Athletic Conference White Division. Both games showed St. Francis pitching and hitting running on all cylinders.
The Spartans worked quickly in the first two innings of Game 1 scoring 10 runs on 9 hits. The big blasts were an RBI triple from Kristina Sherwin and run-scoring doubles from Josie Smith and Riley Banigan in the second. After going down in order in the third, St. Francis bounced back big in the fourth with 5 runs on 3 hits. Carlee Clark's RBI double was the big connection that inning.
It was a big day for junior pitcher Shelby Winkelman, who started both games.
The opening contest saw her throw a 1-hitter while striking out 12, including the side in the first, third and fifth innings.
The nightcap again saw her allow just one hit and strike out nine.
"I struggled with my changeup today. I tried to stay ahead. But with our defense, if there's groundballs or flyballs, they always have my back," she said.
Offensively, St. Francis finished with 13 hits, 1 more than in Game 1. Winkelman's RBI double and Caroline Caesar's run-scoring basehit gave the Spartans a 2-0 advantage in the first. St. Francis made it 4-0 in the third on two DePaul errors and then broke the game open in the fourth with 6 runs on 6 hits. Clark hit a 2-run double, Caesar sent a pitch over the outfield fence for a 2-run homer and Becca Imbrogno scored a run with a sacrifice fly.
"I think it was a 2-1 count. It was inside and I hit it. I thought the right fielder would catch it, but then I knew it was gone," Caesar said.
St. Francis' ability to hit consistently has been crucial to the team's success thus far, according to Winkelman.
"We're hitting very well. If the top part of the order is not doing well, then the bottom of the order picks things up and vice versa and our defense has been a key to our success," she said.
The Spartans travel to Marian Central on Monday.
"We've had a few of these kind of games, but less than last season," Remus said of Saturday. "We have a better schedule. We have some tougher games coming up and that will help us."