St. Francis still undefeated in SCC

St. Francis' formula for success isn't a secret anymore: a little bit of offense, a little bit of defense and a lot of Taylor Ronchetto pitching.

The Spartans followed it to a T on Tuesday, scoring 4 unearned runs behind 11 Ronchetto strikeouts in a 6-0 win over St. Edward in Wheaton.

"I knew we had a lot of good freshmen coming in," said Ronchetto, a sophomore, "and that the team would be good this year. St. Francis has kind of been an underdog, but we're coming up."

St. Francis (19-4, 9-0 Suburban Catholic Conference), sixth in the league last year, is two games ahead of Montini and plays the Broncos a week from today. The Spartans, also a No. 1 sectional seed in the Class 3A playoffs that start in two weeks, are creeping closer to the record 28 wins set by the 2004-05 team.

A group that went 13-18 last year and starts five sophomores and two freshmen isn't sneaking up on opponents anymore.

"I knew I had talent," St. Francis coach Ralph Remus said, "and I hoped to compete for the conference championship. We just have a bunch of young kids, I'm not sure that they know they're not supposed to be this good - but they always come out and play hard and they have fun playing the game. It's a joy coaching them."

Ronchetto, relying on a riseball that jumped on the Green Wave hitters and a put-away drop curve, scattered 5 hits and a hit batter. St. Edward's biggest threat came in the fourth. Down 1-0, Leah Diaz and Kristina Brockner singled to start the inning. But Ronchetto (15-2) struck out the next batter, induced a pop up on a bunt and fanned one more to put out the threat.

"She was all around the plate today. When she did miss, she didn't miss by much," Remus said. "Last time we played these guys (a 4-2 win) she struggled a little bit with the balls and strikes. This game walks didn't become a factor."

Paige Davis singled and scored on a two-out error in the first to put St. Francis ahead 1-0. The Spartans tacked on 2 more runs in the fourth, the second coming on a two-out error. Jenny Eldridge doubled in a run in the fifth and Laura Behnke singled in a score with 2 more St. Edward errors sprinkled in.

"If we don't spot them a few like that," St. Edward coach Mike Rolando said, "it could have been a different game. They have a good team. They've put it all together this year."

Kelcey Fabianski went 3-for-3 and reached base 4 times for St. Francis, scoring a run. Diaz went 2-for-2 and also reached on a walk for St. Edward (15-11, 6-5).