Softball: St. Charles East falls to powerful Marist in supersectional despite Sujack’s 60th home run
Hayden Sujack ended her high school career by hitting home run No. 60. It came in a losing effort as St. Charles East fell to Marist 10-1 in its supe sectional matchup in Rosemont on Monday.
“It was great,” said an emotional Sujack, seemingly reflecting on both her fourth inning blast, as well as her time as a Saint.
St. Charles East (31-9) came into the evening riding an 8-game winning streak and the momentum of a 1-0 win over Fremd that made them back-to-back sectional champions.
Sujack entered the evening with 59 career home runs, a school record that she set earlier this year.
“I wanted her to get to 65 or 66,” said Saints coach Jarod Gutesha. “But nobody pitched to her the whole year. She'd be at 75 home runs if they pitched to her.”
However, against a Marist (36-1) team that has yet to lose to an IHSA program this spring, Sujack’s power display was not enough.
The RedHawks overwhelmed the Saints with six runs combined in the third and fourth innings.
An impressive performance from Marist starter Soleil Tate (7 innings, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 walk, 13 strikeouts) kept the Saints off the bases for almost the entire ballgame.
Soleil will play softball at the University of Wisconsin, so it was a Big Ten vs. SEC showdown whenever Sujack, a South Carolina commit, stepped to the plate.
“She’s a great pitcher,” said Sujack. “I just wanted to help out my team anyway I could.”
“My approach was ‘just give me something’,” added Sujack. “I watch plenty of softball. You get one pitch, right? And I missed that [during] my first at-bat — that's really all you're going to get, especially because it's a good pitcher like that.”
Sujack was 1-for 3 on the night, with her solo shot representing the Saints’ lone hit.
Saints starting pitcher Hannah Wulf, also a future Gamecock, was unable to slow down a potent RedHawk attack.
Marist batters tallied 15 hits with 10 runs against the senior. Wulf was able to strike out 9 and did not surrender a walk over 7 innings.
For Gutesha, the loss marked the end of the road with a star studded senior class.
“[Hayden is] one of a kind, as far as I've seen in 18 years of softball,” said Gutesha. “She does everything, both her play on the field [and] her leadership.”
“And, the other seniors, too,” he continued. “You got Hannah [Wulf], who we unfortunately [only] got to have her around for one year. But she's just fell in love with the program and the team and the kids, and to watch her pitch the way she did this year was just so much fun.”
Gutesha went on to spotlight both Makayla Van Dinther and Lexi Majkszak.
Van Dinther is headed to UW-Parkside to continue her softball career.
“Just what those seniors did for the program this year, I think that's the story,” added Gutesha. “A coach can only do so much. It takes senior leadership, and they did that for us this year.”