Softball: McBride, Murray pace St. Charles North to shutout victory over St. Charles East
St. Charles North designated player Jordyn McBride plays with a slight disadvantage at the plate.
The sophomore wears a pair of prescription sunglasses whenever she takes to the batters box to help her deal with a sight problem, helping her see a softball coming down the plate.
“Those goggles and planting my planting my foot beforehand really allows me to see the ball all the way in and helps me drive it,” McBride said. “Just doing the little things and clearing my head from all the noise really helps when I’m up to bat.”
But clearly, her sight didn’t cause her any problems Wednesday against St. Charles East.
McBride finished with three hits, including a double and a home run, and also drove in four runs to pace the North Stars offense to a 6-0 victory to secure the series sweep over the Saints for the regular season.
“She’s forced us to notice her, forced us to put her up in the lineup and she’s really settling in there,” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “She gets on base, she has wheels, she can hit for power and she can bunt. She truly is a threat and she makes us a better team.
McBride got the North Stars (19-5, 9-2 DuKane Conference) on the scoreboard in the third inning with a two-run double to centerfield. One batter later, senior Paige Murray followed suite with a two-run double of her own to give them a 4-0 advantage.
And after the first crosstown matchup ended in a 2-1 victory for the North Stars, Poulin was more than happy to see his team come through in the inning.
“When you have runners in scoring position or two-out RBIs, that’s going to be what keeps your season alive come playoff time,” Poulin said. “So to see us do that reinforces what we’ve been telling them when the bats come alive. To see those two go back to back after not converting earlier in the game just put us in the driver’s seat.”
McBride added some extra insurance in the fifth inning with her third hit of the day, a two-run home run to left field for her fifth long ball of the season and to make it 6-0.
“This team is just so supportive with every hit, and even with the little things like if we get an out,” McBride said. “They give me the same feeling every single at-bat. I loved hearing them all cheer from when the ball went off the bat. It felt amazing.”
The lead would be more than enough for Murray in the circle. The senior allowed just two hits over the game and picked up 13 strikeouts, marking her third straight game with double-digit strikeouts against the crosstown rival.
“It felt amazing to do that,” Murray said. “I knew I had to trust my spin and my defense against a great lineup with some great hitters. And (sophomore) Ella (Heimbuch) does amazing behind the plate as well with framing the ball and everything.”
The Saints (16-14, 5-6) didn’t manage their first hit in the game until a fifth-inning single from senior Eden Corcoran. Senior Alyse Price had the team’s only other hit in the seventh inning
“Against a good team like that, you’ve got to be perfect and clean, and we just didn’t have that in this game,” Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. “On offense, we didn’t generate much. But when we put the ball in play we got runners on and pushed them around. But there’s no panic here. When we get one through nine going, we’re really going to put the pressure on.”