Stengler, Payleitner power Saints past Conant
It's possible to hold the St. Charles East softball team down for awhile. Doing it for seven innings is another story.
Conant freshman Briana Cavin kept her team in a 0-0 game one time through the order before a combination of Cougars mistakes and the Saints' power lifted St. Charles East to a 5-0 win in the Class 4A St. Charles East regional semifinals.
Katie Stengler (7-2) got the final out just before the sky opened up. The teams also waited through a 20-minute rain delay in the top of the third inning.
St. Charles East (24-9) will play today's Glenbard North-Batavia winner in Saturday's championship game.
"The thing with our team is sometimes we struggle our first time around but once one person gets a hit, we all follow through," sophomore catcher RaeAnne Payleitner said.
The Saints scored three unearned runs in the fourth, starting the rally with a one-out error when Conant couldn't keep its foot on the first base bag on a bunt. With two outs and two on, the Saints' No. 8 and 9 hitters Kayla Brooks and Bethany Carrignan both singled to drive in three runs.
Conant (15-19) committed 4 errors.
"Our focus is put it on the ground, put it on the ground and the kids buy in and they believe," St. Charles East coach Kelly Barnett said. "That was a phenomenal pitching performance on Conant's part. That's how the postseason is played. You are going to find great pitchers and you are going to have to nickel and dime them until you can scratch something together."
Payleitner broke the game open with a 2-run home run in the fifth, a towering blast to right center.
"She (Cavin) was coming in on us all the day and I was having difficulty because I was getting underneath the ball," Payleitner said. "That one I just focused on keeping my hands on top of the ball and driving that first pitch and it went."
Payleitner's homer - her seventh - was the only earned run Cavin (14-11) allowed. She struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter, following up a 14-strikeout effort in a no-hitter Monday against Willowbrook to finish her freshman year with 224 strikeouts.
"She's going to be our future. She's a great kid," Conant coach CathyAnn Smith said.
"Our team has battled back a lot this year. We had a few mental glitches, a few calls that didn't go our way but I've got a young team that has a lot of heart. We'll miss the seniors but we'll keep going next year."
Stengler allowed 3 hits - singles to Amanda VanJacobs, Nichole Gross and Lauren Ambrose. She struck out six and walked one.
"Everything was working really well today," Stengler said. "My changeup got a little rocky but I just had to think about it and go through my pitching motion again and I did well with it at the end."