Softball: Candre, Arrambide lead St. Charles East over rival
Freshman Katie Arrambide made her first St. Charles East-St. Charles North game a memorable one Wednesday with plenty of help from senior Maddie Candre.
Arrambide tossed a 1-hit shutout - allowing only three runners to reach base - while Candre supplied the only run with a home run and played stellar defense in center field, leading the Saints to a 1-0 victory.
Arrambide hit the first batter of the game Alyssa Eby, gave up a double to Olivia Oborne in the fifth and pitched around a dropped fly ball in the sixth to improve her record to 8-2. Her only losses came in the season-opener to Barrington and 1-0 to Ottawa.
"Going into this game I knew I would get excited about it being my first North game but I was able to calm myself down and I think our whole team did that," Arrambide said. "You see other teams from East play North and it's really exciting but it's different when it's your own sport and you are the ones playing and winning. It's special because they are our rivals and because they are so good."
Arrambide struck out 10 batters and didn't allow a walk. She has 96 strikeouts in 61 innings this year with a 1.83 ERA.
"She's phenomenal. I cannot wait to see how she is as a senior. She's going to be an absolute stud more than she already is right now," said Candre, who has played in this rivalry game since she was a freshman.
"Four years of it I absolutely love the rivalry. Doesn't get old."
North Stars senior Jillian Waslawski pitched a gem of her own, holding St. Charles East (13-4, 5-1) to 4 hits while striking out 2 and walking 1.
Candre, who walked in her first at-bat and singled in her third, homered with one out in the third inning. She took an outside pitch the opposite way and hit it near the Saints scoreboard in left field where the wind was blowing to.
"When I swung it felt good but I didn't think it would go out," Candre said. "Maybe the wind helped me out."
Candre also made a pair of diving catches on hard-hit, sinking liners to center field, taking a hit away from Waslawski in the fourth inning.
"Those were some hard hits, I could hear them when they went by me," Arrambide said. "She came out of nowhere and made such good plays."
St. Charles North fell to 8-5, 2-2 in the Upstate Eight River. After Oborne's leadoff double in the fifth, Arrambide recorded two strikeouts and a soft liner to second.
The North Stars didn't have a runner reach third base in the game.
"She did a great job," North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. "Kept us off-balance. We didn't get good contact and when we did it was right at them. That's a great job for a freshman, that's a great job for a senior. I thought we played well. We just need to do a little better job at the plate."
The Saints travel to Geneva Friday to play the defending conference champion Vikings, who share the River lead this year with the Saints.
Coach Jared Gutesha doesn't have to worry about how Arrambide will handle another big game.
"She's pitched in a lot of close ballgames and the comfort level, you can't tell if we are up 10-0 or it's 1-0 in the top of the seventh against your crosstown rival," Gutesha said. "I think it shows her composure."