St. Charles North executes to beat Batavia
With St. Charles North head softball coach Tom Poulin unable to attend the game due to illness, the North Stars sent along a few get-well wishes with their solid play during Tuesday’s 2-1 Upstate Eight Conference River Division victory over host Batavia.
Shannon Caliri (3-6) scattered 6 hits with 5 strikeouts and a walk, as she out-dueled Batavia senior Katie Coleman (4-7) and lifted the North Stars back to the .500 level at 11-11 but more importantly, 7-3 in UEC River play.
“I was pretty much hitting my spots,” said Caliri, who pitched out of a couple early jams and escaped the Bulldogs’ seventh-inning scoring threat. “I was placing it where it needs to be and counting on my teammates behind me.”
Caliri relied on an assortment of off-speed deliveries to effectively keep Batavia batters off-balance.
“I like my change-up a lot because it’s probably one of my best pitches,” said Caliri, who also went 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored and a stolen base.
“She kept the ball down in the zone,” said North Stars assistant Thijs Dennison, who filled in for Poulin. “She mixed up her change-up and curveball — that was her go-to (pitch) today.”
Batavia (11-11, 3-6) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the fourth when Paige Zochert’s ground-rule double drove in Erin Costigan, who had reached second on a single and error to lead off the frame.
Zochert’s RBI base hit came one pitch after she was ruled to have offered at a ball that hit her in the batter’s box.
“I thought she’d be a little mad so maybe I should let her swing,” Batavia coach Ashley Szymski said of Zochert, who added a leadoff double in the second inning. “It worked out.
“She’s really had a lot of good contact lately,” added Szymski.
The North Stars came right back in the fifth to take the lead for good.
After Delaney Olinger reached on an infield error, Caliri beat out a bunt to put runners on first and second. Kailee Dressel then laid down a bunt that wound up going as a fielder’s choice after a late throw to third helped allow the North Stars to load the bases.
The moment of indecision wound up costing the Bulldogs, as Sabrina Rabin tied the game with an RBI single before Mickey Goetz’s run-scoring single to left put the North Stars on top.
“She (Coleman) pitched an inside pitch on me and high,” said Goetz. “That was one I like so I was happy about that. I was just waiting for it.”
“Sabrina, being our returning varsity player, she has made a big contribution for us all season,” said Dennison, “but Mickey has really stepped it up for us this year. It’s her first year on varsity.”
Szymski was disappointed with her team’s lack of execution offensively.
“Katie pitched a great game today,” said Szymski. “I have no complaints about how she pitched. You’ve got to get those bunts down. Those were two runs that would have scored if the two bunts had gotten down at the right time.
“They got their bunts down and they ended up scoring two runs in that fifth inning,” added Szymski.
Batavia left the tying run stranded at third to end the game.
“It’s kind of been that way through most of the season,” said Szymski. “We’ve had plenty of scoring opportunities. Those clutch hits — they’re hard to come by sometimes.”
Dennison walked off the field with an unbeaten record as head coach — for one day at least.
“I didn’t want to have to tell him (Poulin) that we lost,” said Dennison.