St. Charles North tops improved South Elgin
South Elgin narrowed the gap considerably from its first meeting with St. Charles North, only to discover the North Stars win in a variety of manners.
The North Stars remained atop the league standings in Upstate Eight Conference softball action at home on Wednesday as Amanda Ciran extended her season-long unbeaten streak to 10 games with a complete-game, 2-hit shutout of the Storm.
The North Stars ran with impunity to jump-start their offense, and their 4-0 victory gave the squad a 12-1 record in conference action while improving to 21-2 overall.
"I love catching (Ciran)," St. Charles North backstop Annie Korth, the North Stars' offensive hero with a pair of doubles and theft of home, said.
"Her changeup is amazing. We just kind of click. We know what works for each other."
With three speed demons, Natalie Capone, Loren Cihlar and Sydney Russell, at the top of its order, St. Charles North pressures its foes on the base paths with regularity.
"They do and they don't," St. Charles North coach April Stary said on whether the trio has the green light to steal.
Capone opened the third inning with a bunt single and had back-to-back thefts, enabling Russell to drive in her junior classmate one batter later with a routine ground ball.
"Half of our team are slappers and speedsters," Capone said. "(Speed) is another part of the game."
Emily Watts' leadoff single in the North Stars' fifth, compounded by a walk to Cihlar and another Russell single, loaded the bases for Taylor Russell. With Ciran in command for the North Stars, their lead was soon doubled to 2-0 as Taylor Russell produced another RBI groundout.
Ciran changed speeds effectively, keeping the Storm hitters guessing throughout the contest. Kara Rodriquez singled up the middle with one out in the Storm third inning to end any thoughts of a no-hitter, but the junior right-hander proceeded to retire 12 in a row, and 14 of her last 15, to remain unblemished on the year.
Rae Bosteder had an infield single on a bang-bang play at first in the seventh for South Elgin ((9-13, 5-7), but Ciran, who allowed only three runners to reach safely in the error-free game, quickly put out the final Storm threat.
South Elgin starter Sam Bolin suffered a vicious shot off the midsection in the North Stars' second, and back-to-back walks loaded the bases with no outs for the home team.
"I have seen pitchers get hit before," South Elgin coach Jason Schaal said. "I don't know in my eight or nine years of coaching if I've ever seen a girl get hit that hard. That was pretty scary."
But Bolin rebounded as center fielder Catie Stredde made a diving stab and gunned home a strike in one motion after reaching her feet to record a double play.
"I knew there was a fast runner at third and I had to get rid of it quickly," Stredde said.
"We needed a great play," Schaal said. "We got out of some jams early."
The two-time reining regional-champion Storm were defeated 16-1 by St. Charles North in the teams' first meeting.
"They have improved significantly since the first time we played them," Stary said.