South Elgin knocks off UEC leader St. Charles East
OK, Upstate Eight Conference softball fans, what we have here is an old-fashioned pennant race.
While contenders South Elgin, St. Charles North, Neuqua Valley and Lake Park have been jockeying for position this week, St. Charles East has been sitting atop the league with just one loss.
Not anymore.
Seniors Kim Pierce, who is quickly proving to be on the top offensive and defensive players in the state, ignited the Storm Saturday morning, and seniors Cary Thereon and Courtney Bosteder came through in the clutch as South Elgin (14-8 overall) downed St. Charles East (17-6-1) by a 5-4 score in St. Charles.
The win drops the Saints, now 10-2 in the UEC, into a first-place tie in the loss column with St. Charles North (9-2). South Elgin, Neuqua and Lake Park are very much in the hunt with 3 conference losses each.
"Boy, that'll mess things up a little, won't it," smiled South Elgin coach Jason Schaal after Thereon got SCE's Kayla Brooks to pop out to end Saturday's game with the tying run at second base and the winning run at first.
"We're still in this championship run. If we lose today we fall three games behind in the loss column. Championships is what we're shooting for and the conference championship is within our reach."
The Storm got off the bus ready to play. Kaitlyn Stonecipher drew a walk from starting pitcher Katie Stengler to lead off the game and after a groundout, Pierce took an 0-2 pitch on the outer half of the plate and launched it into the teeth of the strong wind and over the right field fence. It was Pierce's fifth homer of the season and she's no hitting .625.
"I don't think about the wind," said the Indiana State recruit. "If it's hit hard enough it will go. It seemed like the wind stopped right when I hit the ball."
Pierce didn't need any wind to come up with a picture-perfect defensive play in the third inning that helped keep the Saints from having a big inning. With her team trailing 4-3, St. Charles East's Jenny Niemiec led off the inning with a double. Then on Steph Roan's single up the middle, Saints coach Kelly Barnett waved Niemiec home. But Pierce scooped the softball off the ground and fired a perfect strike to catcher Rae Bosteder, who applied the tag on a sliding Niemiec.
"That felt good," Pierce said. "Rae made a nice play on the tag. That play is all mental. It's about throwing it to the right spot."
The Saints still managed to tie the game in the inning. Roan took second on the play at the plate and then scored on Kayla Brooks' infield single off Thereon's leg.
South Elgin scored the deciding run in the fifth off East reliever Gabby Moe. Brittany Boelter led off with a single up the middle and took second on a wild pitch. After Pierce flew out - the only out she made in 4 plate appearances - Courtney Bosteder dumped a single into right to score Boelter and make it a 5-4 game.
From there, Theron shut down the Saints, although there were some tenuous moments. SCE did get 13 hits off her in the game but the Saints left 10 runner stranded, five of them in scoring position. She allowed 3 earned runs, struck out four and didn't walk anyone.
"I was excited and nervous today," said Thereon, who moved to 7-4 with the win. "Everyone knows St. Charles East is at the top of the conference and we knew we had to come out and play hard today. Hits are going to happen. Our defense has played solid all year and it did again today."
The Storm also played without two starters. Seniors Lauren Vitiello (college orientation) and Caitlin Stredde (rested) were not in their regular spots in the lineup. Kiersa Parillo who played for Stredde, had a single to lead off South Elgin's 2-run second.
Roan had 3 hits while Mary Kate Brooks, Pam Sommer, Rebecca Reinbold (2 RBI) and Kayla Brooks each had 2 hits for the Saints.
"We were one big hit short, but four runs should be good enough to win," said Barnett, whose team plays at South Elgin on Friday of this coming week. "But I'm not going to put too much heat on the offense. We had good swings.
"Our pitchers had an off day but I still think we have two of the best. We haven't even started our second round yet so it's like the start of the season."