Goetz delivers walk-off win for St. Charles North
After three at-bats against Neuqua Valley’s Jamie O’Brien without a hit, St. Charles North’s No. 3 hitter Mickey Goetz sure was glad to get a fourth chance Tuesday in St. Charles.
The junior delivered the game-winning hit in the bottom of the seventh inning, a two-out shot over the right fielder’s head to score winning pitcher Sabrina Rabin and give the North Stars a 4-3 victory after the Wildcats had rallied late to tie the game.
“I was nervous because I was 0-for-3,” Goetz said. “I just wanted to pull through for the team. I thought it might have been a pop-up.”
Pinch-hitter Erin Nemitz started the rally with a single. After a strikeout, Rabin reached on a bunt single.
A fielder’s choice put Goetz at the plate with two outs, and she drove a high, outside fastball the opposite way for the win.
“We did a great job of picking each other up at the plate or in the field,” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “We’re deep. One through nine we’re confident in all these kids. Our trouble right now is finding innings for everyone.”
While Neuqua Valley (0-1, 0-1) made its season debut, St. Charles North (2-0, 1-0) played its first game outdoors. In the North Stars’ only other game they allowed six unearned runs in two innings of a win over Montini indoors.
Their defense was much better in their second game. They didn’t commit an error while the Wildcats made a key mistake in the first inning.
After a two-out single from Emily Brodner drove in Rabin who had singled to start the inning, Neuqua threw an infield grounder away to give the North Stars a 2-0 lead.
“We’ve been battling the extreme weather like everyone else and it took us awhile to get started,” Wildcats coach Melissa Wilson said. “It took us awhile to getting our nerves out and getting comfortable on the field and once we did we played much better the second half of the game. A few key mistakes early in the game hurt us.”
The North Stars extended their lead to 3-0 in the third on Brodner’s double, a single from Abby Howlett and an RBI groundout by freshman Amanda James.
Rabin didn’t allow a hit in the first three innings. Neuqua Valley got to her in the fourth with a rally that started with two outs and nobody on.
Colleen Hill coaxed a walk, Jenny Budds reached on an infield single and Sydney Foran also walked to load the bases. Alyssa Mazurek laced a 2-run single to left to bring the Wildcats within 3-2.
That’s where the game stood going to the seventh. Down to their last strike, Anna Cizek worked a two-out walk, and leadoff hitter O’Brien’s opposite-field liner sliced down the left-field line for a game-tying triple.
“It was a good game and I’m excited to see what the season brings,” Wilson said. “I do think we did a lot of great things but there’s stuff we need to work on.”
Rabin allowed 4 hits and 4 walks while striking out four. The North Stars outhit the Wildcats 9-4 led by Rabin (3-for-4) and Brodner (2-for-3).
“Sabrina was really throwing well,” Poulin said.
“They are so young but they know how to play the game and they expect to win.”