North Stars take control
It was a good day to be a batter Wednesday at St. Charles East, where a strong wind blew out to center field for the Saints' Upstate Eight showdown with St. Charles North.
And it was an even better day to be a North Star.
St. Charles North clinched a share of the Upstate Eight Conference title, scoring 7 runs in the sixth inning to win a 12-8 slugfest over St. Charles East.
The North Stars (22-9, 15-2) can clinch the championship outright with a win in any of their final three games, or with a loss by St. Charles East (20-9, 13-5) in its last two games.
Annie Korth and Kristin Damm both homered for St. Charles North while Kayla Brooks and RaeAnne Payleitner went deep for the Saints.
"It was a pretty good opportunity for the batters today," said North Stars first baseman JuliaClare Plezbert. "We were prety excited to hit. It was pretty awesome."
The North Stars jumped ahead early, though it was a result of Saints miscues more than their own hitting. St. Charles East committed 3 errors in the first inning. Plezbert's 2-run double was the North Stars' lone hit as they grabbed a 3-0 lead.
But the Saints didn't stay down, tying the game at 3-3 in the second on Brooks' 3-run homer to left field.
After falling behind 4-3 in the third, the Saints grabbed a 6-4 lead in their half of the third on Payleitner's RBI double, then back-to-back RBI singles up the middle from Jenny Niemiec and Rachael Edwards.
St. Charles North used its speed to turn the game around in the sixth. Natalie Capone, Loren Cihlar and Sydney Russell had three straight infield singles to cut the Saints' lead to 6-5.
Two more Saints errors and Plezbert's RBI single put the North Stars ahead 9-7, then Korth gave them a cushion with her 3-run homer.
"There are some people that can run like the wind and it's not just my top couple, I've got them throughout the lineup," St. Charles North coach April Stary said. "It factors in a big way for us."
Both teams used two pitchers, with Gabby Moe relieving Katie Stengler for the Saints in the fourth and taking the loss, despite striking out the side in the fifth and sixth innings.
Amanda Ciran (8-5) relieved Amanda Engel in the fifth and allowed just 1 run in the final 3 innings.
"The way we were hitting the ball definitely helped me as a pitcher knowing that," Ciran said.
"She just kind of starts it like a normal game but goes immediately after it," Stary said. "For her it's 'I want to get the job done.' She just wanted to keep her team going and that's what she did."
St. Charles East coach Kelly Barnett was disappointed with her team's 6 errors.
"You have to play defense to win championships, and the kids have to know that and recommit and focus on defense," Barnett said. "We didn't play defense. The story of the game is they hit the ball, we didn't play defense and bad news for the Saints."