Softball: Big first inning lifts St. Charles East past Glenbard East
Ari Bigda is not used to getting her first plate appearance of the day in the first inning.
Yet with two outs and the bases loaded, the St. Charles East No. 9 hitter came to the plate knowing she had to keep the train moving any way she could against Glenbard East.
“I was just excited getting up there,” Bigda said. “Our energy was everywhere and it showed all over the field. The energy just went up and down the lineup, and it got translated in my at-bat.”
Bigda laced a two-run single into left field that brought home two runs as the second-seeded Saints scored six in the first inning and held on to secure an 8-0 victory over the sixth-seeded Rams in a Class 4A Bartlett sectional semifinal Wednesday.
“Seeing that ball go through, it was just awesome,” Bigda said. “These are the games that really count and the ones that matter. To be honest I didn’t really think that it was going to go through, but it did and it got me extra excited.”
The Saints (30-8) will face fourth-seeded Fremd (19-7-1) for the sectional title at 11 a.m. Saturday at Bartlett. The Vikings took down top-seeded St. Charles North 3-1 in their sectional semifinal.
Bigda’s hit was the lone knock for the Saints in the inning. Besides her two-run basehit, the Saints got on with six walks, including five in a row to start off the game, and an error. Makayla Van Dinther also added an RBI with a sacrifice fly.
“We just came out loose and tried not to chase anything out of the zone,” Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. “That put the pressure directly on them. We were making their pitcher come to us and not chasing, which is something you can do in these high-pressure games where you want the big hit.”
Hayden Sujack had the only other runs outside of the first inning, hitting a two-run home run in the sixth inning to make it 8-0. The blast moved the South Carolina commit into a tie with former Marist star Angela Zedak for the fourth-most all-time home runs in state history with 59.
“I got a little swing happy in my at-bat before, but I was just really hoping that she would throw me something in my wheelhouse,” Sujack said. “There wasn’t as much pressure which is kind of fun, but I was just trying to hit a ball hard and keep it super simple at the plate.”
The runs were more than enough for Hannah Wulf in the circle. The fellow future Gamecock allowed just three hits and issued two walks while striking out nine batters. And anytime Sujack noticed her pitcher missing the zone, she was quick to get out there and get her in the right head space.
“We just know each other so well that I can see when she’s off and missing, and I just go out and talk with her a lot,” Sujack said. “It’s literally like we’re sisters. But being able to talk to her and have her take that feedback and use it in a positive way, it was great.”
Besides her first and last innings in the circle, Claire Bolda kept the Rams (21-5) in the contest, punching out seven while allowing just six hits in the game.
“Claire’s been a very dominant pitcher for us and she rarely walks batters, so what everyone saw in those middle innings is pretty typical for her,” Rams coach Dawn Chantos said. “She’s an amazing pitcher and St. Charles East is a great hitting team. We had a strategy coming in where we didn’t want to get too much of the plate, and it worked five of the seven innings.”
The Rams were playing in their first sectional game since 2003. All three of their hits in the contest came in the fourth inning, with three consecutive singles from Lilly Carver, Emma Jaras and Kiera Nelson.
“Our offense just wasn’t as on as it usually is,” Chantos said. “But we’ve got a lot back next year. This was a great building year for us, and giving these girls the experience of sectionals and dealing with these pressure situations, I think we’re definitely going to grow stronger from this.”