Softball: St. Charles East dumps Batavia, closes in on River title
Katie Arrambide has been a fundamental difference-maker on the mound for St. Charles East in forging a two-game lead in Upstate Eight River softball action this spring.
But the prized St. Charles East freshman let her bat do the talking in the Saints' latest league victory, a 3-1 triumph over Batavia on Tuesday afternoon.
Arrambide touched her opposite-number, senior Sammi Wicks, for her first home run this season, a 2-run line shot over the left-center field fence.
"(Batavia) is the deepest park in the Upstate Eight - at least to center field," St. Charles East coach Jarod Gutesha said. "I have confidence she can hit a home run."
"I wanted to make varsity and help the team," Arrambide said of her first-year expectations. "I have been focusing more on pitching than hitting. At this at-bat (the home run) I was just focusing on what I have been working on. I found the (pitch) I really wanted."
St. Charles East (17-6, 11-1) has two fewer losses than Geneva for current River supremacy as Arrambide improved to 12-3 with her latest complete-game outing.
Batavia had its division hopes dealt a major blow in falling to 12-11, 8-5.
"I didn't expect her to hit a home run," Batavia coach Lupe Castellanos said of the drive that also scored Maddy Stout in the Saints' fourth.
The Saints' inning was extended when Stout reached on an infield error; Wicks deserved a better fate in falling to 4-3 on the season as all 3 runs were unearned.
St. Charles East opened the scoring in the top of the first after Wicks retired Alex Wooten and Sara Campagna to begin the game.
But Maddie Candre reached on a soft single and moved into scoring position when Batavia failed to field the ball cleanly in the outfield.
Paige Ligocki delivered Candre with another soft liner that fell harmlessly in the outfield.
The Bulldogs, however, had a chance in their half to knot the game up again after Cassidy Carby roped a triple to the left-center gap.
But Arrambide induced a routine grounder as the Saints would ultimately play error-free softball.
"Solid defense," Gutesha said of the Saints' key thus far in league play.
"To be able to bounce back is huge after the other team scores," Castellanos said of Arrambide stranding Carby.
Batavia would not have another runner reach scoring position until Molly Costigan plated Allison Bahlman with a two-out opposite-field double in the bottom of the sixth.
"I was just looking for something I could crush," Costigan said. "All I really wanted to do was put bat on ball."
Arrambide ended the game by foiling a Batavia hit-and-run tactic with a pitcher-to-first double play.