Softball: Luna's blast seals St. Charles East's sectional semifinal win
After watching a 4-0 lead get sliced in half during Fremd's 2-run fifth inning, St. Charles East's softball team needed an insurance run or two in order to breathe a little easier.
Mission accomplished - with a few added bonus runs.
Senior Alex Wooten drove in a run to make it 5-2 with a ground-rule double that appeared to go through the base of the temporary hard plastic outfield fencing in center field.
Originally ruled as a home run, the umpires conferred for a few minutes before sending Wooten back from the dugout to second base.
Two pitches later, junior first baseman Lauren Luna belted a no-doubt-about-it, 3-run home run over the left-center fence to help seal the Saints' 8-2 Class 4A Glenbard West sectional semifinal victory over Fremd (21-9) Tuesday afternoon in Glen Ellyn.
"I just wanted to get a base hit and score a run so I just relaxed," said Luna. "Right off the bat, I knew it was gone. It helped get our energy up."
Luna's ninth home run of the season did just that.
"That was a huge hit," said Saints coach Jarod Gutesha. "Those were insurance runs we definitely needed.
"They (the Vikings) put a little bit of pressure on us there but then we opened it up and started to drive the ball and put together that big inning. That made it easier for us in the seventh."
Sophomore pitcher Katie Arrambide went the distance for the top-seeded Saints (23-10), scattering 7 hits while walking 2 and racking up 10 strikeouts.
On the flip side, St. Charles East hitters put the ball in play, striking out just 2 times in 34 plate appearances.
"Our execution at the plate mirrored our execution defensively early in the game and we put ourselves in the hole," said Fremd coach Josh Teschner, whose team stranded 8 runners.
"When you come to the plate with runners in scoring position against an excellent pitcher, you have to put the ball in play."
St. Charles East finished with 14 base hits, highlighted by leadoff batter Krista Sbarra's 4 for 4 performance that included 3 singles, a double and 3 runs scored.
Sbarra led off the first with a single and scored on Arrambide's RBI single. Luna's 2-out RBI single sent courtesy runner Alena Macri across to give the Saints an early 2-0 advantage.
"I wanted to start it off and provide that spark for my team," said Sbarra, who appropriately snared Elaina Kraus' fly ball in right field to end the game.
"She was awesome for us," Gutesha said of Sbarra. "She just hit, hit, hit and hit."
Junior Kelsey Brauer had a pair of doubles for the Vikings, whose starting lineup included 4 juniors, a sophomore and 3 freshmen.
"We went into the year knowing we could fight for a regional title and wanting to at least be in that sectional game," said Teschner. "We are a very young, talented team.
"I couldn't be more proud of the effort they put forth and how they scrapped and battled."
The Saints, meanwhile, await Wednesday's Elk Grove-Lake Park winner in Friday's sectional championship.
"This is what we've been working toward the whole season," said Sbarra. "We want to make a name for ourselves."