St. Charles North headed to East Peoria
After four years of playing some of the best softball the Tri-Cities has ever seen, St. Charles North will end its run at a fitting place — East Peoria playing for the Class 4A state championship.
The North Stars punched their ticket with a convincing 12-4 victory Monday over DeKalb in the Class 4A DeKalb supersectional at Mary M. Bell Field on the campus of Northern Illinois University.
While DeKalb was playing in front of its hometown fans, St. Charles North brought enough to match them, and after a slow start they had a lot more to cheer about.
Those North Star fans lingered long after Amanda Ciran struck out Kelli Gerace for the final out. They turned the diamond into their own impromptu party, snapping photos and exchanging hugs after watching their team become the first in school history — and only second in St. Charles history joining the 1994 Saints — to reach state.
“It's so much better than you can ever imagine,” Ciran said. “I can't tell you how much we've grown as a team, just in these last five (postseason) games alone. It's immense. After all we've been through, after all the years, there's just not a better moment than this.”
The North Stars (31-3) will play New Trier in the second state semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday. Benet and Moline meet in the first semifinal.
With the majority of its all-senior starting lineup the same core group that reached the sectional finals as sophomores and went 29-4 as juniors, a lot was expected this season.
The North Stars have delivered in a big way.
“They have overcome a lot. and a lot of pressure was put on these girls since they were freshmen,” said North Stars coach Tom Poulin, just moments before he was drenched by those same players with a bucket of Gatorade.
“This year all we said was we have to win the next game, we have to win the next game. They really zeroed in after that first inning and played great softball.”
DeKalb (31-5) jumped on the North Stars with 4 runs in the first, taking advantage of the North Stars' jitters by laying down five bunts that St. Charles North didn't play well.
“I don't think we've had an inning that was that frustrating,” Poulin said. “That was great softball and smart softball and great coaching. We have nerves. They forced us to make some plays. It forces Amanda to move and field and everybody needs to realize they need to get rid of the nerves and execute and make plays.
“I think that woke us up. Just like Taylor's (Russell's) home run the other day (against Elk Grove) made us realize we could win this, that inning made us realize if we don't wake up we're not going to play again this year. I think it was beneficial to be honest. It woke us up and slapped us in the face.”
Mackenzie Johnson laced a 2-run double that was about the only hard-hit ball off Ciran. By the time Vicki VonBergren laid down another bunt to score Johnson, the Barbs had the North Stars in a quick 4-0 hole.
Just as quickly, St. Charles North got back in the game with a 3-run second. Ashley Seering benefited from an illegal pitch call on her fly out to right to eventually walk. Korth doubled in the first run, Ciran singled home the second run and Emily Watts singled in the third run to get the North Stars within 4-3.
Those runs were the first DeKalb freshman whiz Katie Kowalski (29-3) had allowed in 17 postseason innings.
“We weren't thinking about state, we were thinking we had to win this game,” Watts said. “But of course we were under pressure.”
“We were very nervous,” Korth said. “When we got done with that (first) inning we took a deep breath and said we're not going to let them get any more runs.”
Ciran didn't, allowing just 3 hits in the final 6 innings to improve to 23-1. She fanned five and walked two.
“She bore down and got focused,” Poulin said. “Annie called a great game. Amanda did a good job keeping them off-balance.”
St. Charles North tied the game in the third on Seering's RBI single. The North Stars went ahead to stay 5-4 in the fourth on Sydney Russell's RBI single.
That play actually scored 2 runs but the umpires took one away when they ruled Poulin made contact with Caitlyn Khoury as she hesitated between third before coming into score while Russell made a long turn around first to grab DeKalb's defensive attention.
“I felt her (Khoury) starting to get close and then I pulled away,” Poulin said. “He (the umpire) told me ‘I wouldn't make a call like that unless I saw it.'”
A DeKalb error gave the North Stars a 6-4 lead in the fifth, then the North Stars broke the game open with a 6-run seventh. Seering had 2 hits in the inning, a triple to start the rally and an RBI single to end it. Watts stroked an RBI single, and Khoury's single brought in 2 runs.
Seven St. Charles North players had at least 2 hits, including all their hitters from No. 4 through No. 9 in the lineup. Those five hitters — Seering, Natalie Capone, Korth, Ciran, Watts and Khoury — combined to go 13 for 22 against a pitcher who had been unscored on in the postseason.
“I credit their good hitters,” DeKalb coach Jeff Davis said. “I'm not saying Katie had a bad day. She did outstanding for a freshman. We're lucky to have her. The future looks bright for Katie and the Barbs.”
And both the present and the future looks bright for the North Stars and their senior class. Before
Loren Cihlar heads to play softball at Ball State, Capone to Indiana State, Seering to IUPUI, Sydney and Taylor Russell to the University of Indianapolis, Ciran and Korth to Loyola University and Jenna Trusso to Carthage, they will get two more games this weekend on high school softball's biggest stage trying to bring a state championship back to St. Charles.
“It means so much to be able to do this for our school,” Korth said, during a break from taking photos with her teammates and getting hugs from her friends. “Our hearts have been racing a little bit but we want this so bad. We're going to keep going. We're not going to stop now, we're going to keep fighting.”