Softball: Ruggles, Dundee-Crown blank Jacobs
The pieces all seem to be falling into place for the Dundee-Crown softball team.
Those pieces include great pitching, stellar defense and timely hitting. They were all on display Tuesday afternoon in a 3-0 Fox Valley Conference win over visiting Jacobs. The victory comes on the heels of an impressive second place finish at the Larkin Slugfest this past weekend.
The great pitching for the Chargers came from junior Sydney Ruggles, who fired a complete game 3-hit shutout. She had 14 strikeouts with no walks and 2 hit batters. Her teammates played flawless defense behind her.
"That might be the strongest she has thrown all year," Dundee-Crown coach Tracy Beatty said. "She was really focused and on her game. When we support her with that kind of defense and some timely hitting we are a real solid team."
Ruggles had a no-hitter into the fifth inning and had 9 strikeouts through the first 4 innings. Only 3 balls left the infield off her and only one baserunner made it as far as third base.
"Everything felt really good today," Ruggles said. "I was able to pitch my game. All the pitches were working. I was spinning it and hitting my spots with my fastball."
Ruggles helped herself at the plate in the first inning when she drove in Deanna Origer from second base with an RBI double. Origer had reached on a one-out single and took second base on a walk.
Origer added an RBI double in the fifth inning on a hard hit ball down the third-base line. Hannah Gestrich also had an RBI double in the inning.
"I was just going up there looking to move the runners over," Origer said. "We had noticed their pitcher threw hard but didn't have much movement. So it was just a matter of getting adjusted to the speed of the ball."
The Golden Eagles (8-9, 3-5) made a little progress against Ruggles in the final innings with 3 hits, but not enough to push a run across.
"She was absolutely lights out fantastic today," Jacobs coach Katie O'Brien said. "I've seen her pitch before too and she is the best pitcher in our conference. Both teams came ready and it was a good game, but when a pitcher throws that kind of game against you all you can do is tip your cap and applaud her on a great game."
Gabriella Silva, Emily Pena, and Hayley Masching had the hits for Jacobs.