Softball: Red-hot St. Charles East powers past Elk Grove
The further a team advances in the postseason, the harder it is supposed to get.
Except for the St. Charles East softball team, who is making quick work of its opponents in an impressive late May run that will now continue into June.
A day after beating Lake Park 15-5 in 6 innings to win a regional title, the Saints again ended a game early Tuesday. Maddy Stout blasted an opposite field grand slam in the bottom of the sixth to cap a 12-0 victory over No. 4 seed Elk Grove.
The top-seeded Saints (30-7) will play either No. 2 Conant (22-6) or cross-town rival St. Charles North for the sectional championship at 11 a.m. Saturday.
"The team chemistry is so good right now," Stout said. "We just go into the game feeling good. I was trying to get on that first pitch. I was really pumped up about it."
Delaney Devor tossed a 4-hit shutout for the Saints and said playing the sectional on their home field is helping.
"We were really excited to get to come back to our own field," Devor said. "I think that definitely made us more pumped up. It's a special place to us. This is an all-around team win. We're all just hitting the ball and helping each other out. It took our whole team."
Elk Grove (26-10) was its own worst enemy, making 7 errors and not getting outs on a couple other balls that went as fielder's choices. One of those came in the bottom of the second when Stout, who led off with a double and took third on a passed ball, raced home on Sarah Kreiner's chopper to third base that Elk Grove threw late to the plate.
Kreiner then scored when Sara Campagna sliced a liner that got past Elk Grove's right fielder all the way to the fence that ended up a 2-run inside-the-park home run and 3-0 lead.
"Defense today wasn't there for us," Elk Grove coach Ken Grams said. "I credit their pitcher, we got nothing. They were making the plays and we weren't. Simple as that."
Three of Elk Grove's errors came on the leadoff batter in an inning, forcing starter Kylie Thomsen into one jam after another. Devor opened the third reaching on an error, and she scored on Paige Ligocki's bloop hit to right field to make it 4-0.
That's where the game stood until the Saints' 8-run sixth. Elk Grove only put two runners on base in an inning once - in the sixth when Katia Pendowski and Jessica Kearns singled with 2 outs. Devor ended the threat with a grounder to Ligocki, who played flawless defense at shortstop.
"The difference between yesterday 15-5 vs. 12-0 is we played outstanding defense," Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. "And obviously when you have run support it makes it that much more relaxing. They struggled defensively and we got some nice hits when we needed them."
The Saints batted around in the sixth. Stout's grand slam, her ninth homer, was a laser over the right field fence. The Saints had success all day hitting to the opposite field.
"Last year she (Thomsen) worked us away, away, away," Gutesha said. "When we got the ball away we took it that way."
Next up is a potential rematch with the North Stars (19-9), who split with the Saints in conference play, winning on St. Charles East's home field.
"That would always be fun no doubt about it," Gutesha said.
Elk Grove graduates 11 seniors, the most in program history.
"This is terrific," Grams said of the season. "Any time you get into 20s (wins) is great, over 25 is super. We did a lot of positive things. We're going to miss the seniors big time. They are great kids."