Softball: Geneva's complete game beats St. Charles East
Fresh from its 4-2 victory over St. Charles North one day earlier, Geneva's softball team handed another St. Charles team a defeat Thursday afternoon.
Solid pitching from sophomore Shelly Deisz and freshman reliever Sydney Haake, a potent offensive performance that included 12 base hits and 7 walks, and excellent defense propelled the Vikings (3-7, 2-1) to a convincing 10-3 DuKane Conference victory over the host Saints (11-6, 2-1).
Geneva coach Greg Dierks talked with his team prior to Wednesday's home win over the North Stars about what lied ahead.
"I told them we had an opportunity to send a message to ourselves and everybody else that we can be a force," said the coach. "We were doing just enough to get beat. We've just got to be more consistent - and we were today."
Geneva struck first in a 5-run second inning that started with walks to Haake and Madison Femia and an infield error before Sam Keller's 2-run single off the top of the fence in center field made it 2-0.
Back-to-back RBI singles from Emily Viebrock (3 for 4, BB) and Alyssa Kramer extended the lead to 4-0 before a wild pitch sent the fifth run across.
"Everybody has a strategy when they go up to bat and they're looking for the pitch they want to hit," said Viebrock. "Everyone is working the counts - it's terrific."
After the Saints got on the board in the bottom half of the frame following Katie Arrambide's RBI single, the score remained the same until the sixth when Geneva put up another 5-spot.
This time, the Vikings received an RBI double from Sydney Erdmann, a 2-run single off the bat of Haake and Femia's 2-run double that upped the lead to 10-1.
"We got five (runs) with two outs and nobody on in the sixth," said Dierks. "The add-ons help because they (the Saints) obviously have a lot of good sticks.
"That would have been a very nervous situation for us (in the sixth and seventh)."
Paige Ligocki's 2-run home run that caromed off the top of the right-field fence in the bottom of the sixth accounted for the Saints' final runs off winning pitcher Deisz, who walked 2 and struck out 5 in 6 innings.
A dropped third strike and double by Lauren Luna put runners on second and third with nobody out before Haake retired 3 consecutive batters to end it.
"It's a hostile environment here and they (Deisz and Haake) handled themselves very well," said Dierks.
The Vikings also played a flawless game in the field, highlighted by a pair of running catches from right fielder Delyla Mroz and first baseman Viebrock's stab of a 5th-inning line drive off the bat of Maddy Stout that resulted in an inning-ending double play.
"I saw it (the ball) flying at me and I just knew I had to catch it," said Viebrock.
"Today, our defense was great," said Dierks.
Arrambide, Luna and Alex Wooten each had a pair of hits for the Saints.
"We knocked the ball around today but they made some good defensive plays," said Saints coach Jarod Gutesha.
"Everybody is tough (in this conference). We're always going to have good games against teams like Geneva, Lake Park, St. Charles North and Wheaton Warrenville South. It's a different look but everyday is going to be a good test."