Bartlett puts up little fight
St. Charles North softball coach April Stary admits her team has been on somewhat of a roller-coaster ride this season. What she hopes is that the North Stars use Friday's dominating 6-1 win over Bartlett as a springboard for good things to come.
What Friday's victory did do for the Stars is keep them in the thick of the Upstate Eight Conference title chase. The win gives St. Charles North (14-8 overall) a 9-2 mark in the league and keeps it just one game behind league leader St. Charles East in the loss column. St. Charles East hosts South Elgin at 10 a.m. today. South Elgin is 2 games back in the loss column at 7-3.
"(Thursday) I thought we were starting to get it together and today it all came together," said Stary, whose team fell to Wheaton North Thursday. "We've been hitting some roller-coaster loops and hopefully we're on the upside now."
The North Stars certainly were on the upside Friday. Amanda Ciran fired a 3-hitter and Annie Korth and Ashley Seering hit solo home runs to propel the offense.
"Annie Korth has it but we don't always expect it," Stary said. "With Ashley in the 4-5 spot we expect it from her."
Stary and the North Stars have also come to expect the type of pitching performance they got from Ciran Friday. She struck out five and although she walked six, Bartlett (11-10, 4-6) could manage just 3 singles and left 8 runners on base.
"Amanda's on a tear lately," Stary said. "She's been picking 'em up and mowing 'em down."
Ciran credits the North Stars' defense for making her life easier.
"I thought I did a pretty good job and the defense was there behind me," she said. "Our defense has been so good this year. Knowing they're behind me backing me up makes me throw even harder."
For Bartlett, the loss was another in a string of frustrating defeats for the Hawks this season, and they wake up this morning having to play a nonconference doubleheader at No. 1 ranked Fremd.
"We've got to play with more passion," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "I thought we were flat today. We have to find our passion. Right now it's missing."
- John Radtke
West Chicago 5, Glenbard East 0: Mary Connolly (17-1) fired a 1-hitter and also homered for the Wildcats (22-3, 7-1 DuPage Valley Conference). Megan Shannon doubled for Glenbard East (7-16, 1-8).
Wheaton North 2, Naperville North 1: The Falcons (15-7, 5-3 DVC) pushed across a run in the fifth and an unearned run in the sixth to rally past the host Huskies (12-11, 3-5). Kahla Nolan struck out seven for Wheaton North.
Glenbard South 6, Rochelle 0: Lauren Podgorski went 3-for-4, drove in 2 runs and scored 2 runs for the Raiders (11-12, 4-2 Western Sun Conference). Danielle Chitkowski (5-7) struck out seven in a 3-hit shutout.
Glenbard West 24, Proviso West 1: Taylor Steinhilber (2-3) struck out 10 and Briana Wyatt homered for the Hilltoppers (13-9, 5-2 West Suburban Silver).
Streamwood 6, Waubonsie Valley 4: Arielle Gallione slugged a 2-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to sink the Warriors in Streamwood. Ally Seplak and Lisa Corrigan each had 2 hits for Waubonsie Valley (8-15, 5-7 Upstate Eight Conference).
Hinsdale South 15, Proviso East 1: Maggie Nowak went 3-for-3 and drove in a run for the Hornets (16-3, 5-2 West Suburban Gold).
Peotone 10, Lisle 7: Colleen Drennan doubled twice and drove in 2 runs for the Lions (17-10, 7-6 Interstate Eight Conference).