Ronchetto fires no-hitter at Montini

Montini threw everything but the kitchen sink at St. Francis Wednesday, even bringing Tori Shipbaugh “out of retirement” to pitch in relief.

No matter. The Broncos still had no answer for Taylor Ronchetto.

The St. Francis senior fired her second no-hitter of the season, striking out 10 in a 5-0 victory in Lombard.

“I didn’t realize I had a no-hitter. It kind of surprised me at the end, actually,” Ronchetto said. “I know a lot of (Montini’s) girls from summer ball and a lot of the coaches. It feels good to beat them.”

In two games against Montini this year, both shutouts, Ronchetto has allowed just 1 hit in 14 innings. On Wednesday the Broncos managed two baserunners, on an error and a walk.

“When you don’t hit, you can’t expect to win,” said Montini coach Richie Costante. “She pitched a great game. We saw six pitches over the plate and we took them.”

Ronchetto (14-3), who has seven shutouts this spring, combined with Laura Behnke to no-hit Aurora Central in April. Montini only hit four balls to fielders other than Ronchetto, as she retired six comebackers and also made a running grab of a pop-up.

“I told her to share a little more next game,” St. Francis coach Ralph Remus said with a laugh.

Ronchetto repeatedly used her changeup for called strikes early in the count, then put away batters with well-placed pitches low and away.

“She was all over the strike zone, changing speeds and kept them off-balance,” Remus said. “When she uses her changeup it sets everything up for her and makes her that much more effective. Our whole theory is show it so they know you have it and they gotta think about it.”

St. Francis (15-4, 10-0 Suburban Christian Conference Blue) broke ahead 2-0 in the third inning. Blaine Carragher reached on a one-out error, Behnke doubled her in and Brie Pasquale doubled off the fence in right field to bring in Behnke.

Aly Germanos singled and scored on a two-out Carragher bloop single in the fourth, Pasquale walked and scored in the fifth and Paige Davis doubled in Behnke with two outs in the seventh.

“We had some clutch hits when we needed them,” Remus said.

Shipbaugh, Montini’s junior shortstop, had last pitched in high school ball her freshman year. She threw an inning on Monday against Guerin, and relieved Emily Barg to start the fourth Wednesday. Shipbaugh, a slower change of pace, allowed 3 runs with 4 hits and 2 walks, striking out two.

Montini (7-11, 4-6), which split the Suburban Christian Blue title with St. Francis last year, could very well see the Spartans again in a regional the Broncos host.

“We’ll see,” Costante said about Shipbaugh’s future on the mound. “We gotta get her a lot more reps before I make any decisions. She has the most experience on my pitching staff. It gives us four pitchers now.”