Young North Stars off to impressive start

Almost half of the St. Charles North softball team's roster is made up of freshmen and sophomores.

It's a rebuilding and learning year, right? Not exactly.

The North Stars are 11-2, yet have experienced a few learning bumps along the way.

"We are getting there," St. Charles North coach April Stary said. "We are slowly progressing…(but) I'm not going to complain a whole lot after last year."

The North Stars went 14-19 overall in a surprisingly disappointing year. That's certainly not the case this year -- and most likely the next few years -- as most of this year's starters are barely old enough to drive a car.

"If they all stay healthy and come back, I get these guys for three more years," Stary said. "There's also a bunch more on the JV team that will come up eventually."

The class of 2011 includes leadoff batter Natalie Capone and the heart-of-the-order in twins Sydney and Taylor Russell, outfielder Loren Cihlar and on-the-rise pitcher, Amanda Ciran. Another Amanda -- Engel -- is another youngster on the mound.

Engel has struck out a team-best 34 batters and has an ERA of 1.12. Ciran has a sparking ERA of 0.76 and has fanned 29 batters. Both have seen equal time on the mound.

Pitching is sound, but so is hitting. As a team, St. Charles North has 6 players who are batting over .300. Capone leads the way with her .381, followed by Sydney Russell (.355), Cihlar (.345), Kristin Damm, Christine Roggemann and Jackie Devitt (all .333).

Sydney Russell (.429) and Devitt (.467) have an on-base percentage of over .400 as well.

"They are probably the best hitting team we've faced all year," Rosary coach Tara Tattersall said of the North Stars, who posted 18 hits in the doubleheader sweep last weekend.

Kaneland: At the start of the season, the Knights' biggest question was pitching. They lost their top 2 starters from last year to graduation and was left with Mallory Huml, who went 4-1 as the No. 3.

Pitching is clearly not an issue anymore, thanks to Huml, who has 8 wins this year.

"She's doing far better than I expected," Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said. "She is pitching well. She's maybe had one bad game (against Geneva), but other than that, she's been phenomenal."

Hansen said some of her best wins have been against Plainfield South and West Chicago.

The junior has an ERA of 1.26, has walked less than 10 batters and has struck out over 40 players.

"She has good control and she's not overpowering," Hansen said. "She's done a pretty good job against good hitting teams."

Batavia: First-year Bulldog coach Leon Pedraza was welcomed to the Batavia/Geneva rivalry at the varsity level with the Vikings winning 1-0 last week.

"I know the rivalry well," said Pedraza, who also coaches girls golf at the varsity level. "I'm well-aware of it."

Despite a close loss against a rival, Pedraza likes the way things are going so far, as the Bulldogs are 6-9 overall.

"It's been a lot of fun (and) enjoyable," Pedraza said. "We want the girls to understand this is a long season and we have a lot of games left."

Batavia's Western Sun conference record is 3-2 after beating Rochelle Tuesday. Winning the title is something Pedraza has stressed since day 1.

"We are still in good position for the conference, and that's our goal," he said. "That's our second season. That's what we are calling it."

Hitting has been pretty solid, thanks to Valpo-bound Kelsey Phalen, who is batting .600. Next in line is Alexa Schofield (.390) and Kelly Coleman (.350).

Geneva: In the up-and-down season of the Vikings, one player in particular has been pretty consistent -- catcher Dee Phalon.

Phalon leads the team in batting average at .484 and is among the team and area leaders in RBI.

"She's been hitting great this year," Geneva coach Greg Dierks said. "Her (batting) average is a hair over .500. She makes good adjustments to the pitchers. She's not just looking for a ball down the middle."

Right down the middle is a good way to describe the Vikings this year, thanks to their 6-7 record.

"We've had a few rough moments, but we are very resilient," Dierks said. "We are getting to a place in our schedule where if the weather holds up…this is the time where we want to stay hot and get over the .500 mark and start aiming for 20 (wins)."

"Our confidence is building now," Phalon added. "We were a little rocky, but I think we are really getting into it and getting to know everyone better because we are still young."