Germanos leads St. Francis by BC
St. Francis softball coach Ralph Remus took advantage of a nonconference game at Burlington Central Saturday to juggle his lineup a little with a look to the future.
He decided to move sophomore Aly Germanos to the leadoff position in the batting order. “Today was her audition for next year in that spot,” Remus said.
But if Germanos can be as productive as she was Saturday on a regular basis, Remus might be challenged to think about making the move now.
Germanos went 4-for-4 with a double, triple, 2 RBI, 3 runs scored and a stolen base as the Spartans rolled to a 12-2 win on Rocket Hill.
“I just thought the way I always do,” said Germanos of her mindset approaching the plate as the leadoff hitter. “I just wanted to start off a rally.”
She did just that in three of her four at-bats. Germanos singled to lead off the game and scored on a two-out single from senior Paige Davis to give the Spartans (17-4) a 1-0 lead off BC starter Kelsey Johnson.
Then, with one out in the third, Germanos blasted a triple to left field and scored on Blaine Carragher’s single to right to make it 2-0. Her third at-bat produced a 2-run double that gave the Spartans a 4-0 lead and she led off the 3-run sixth with a single, scoring on Davis’ groundout.
“Our entire team came to hit today,” Germanos said.
St. Francis rapped out 14 hits in the win, which pleased Remus especially considering his players had Saturday night’s Prom on their minds as well as softball.
“I was a little concerned we wouldn’t be very focused today,” he said, “but we came to play.”
Carragher had 2 hits, winning pitcher Laura Behnke had 2 hits including a 2-run home run, Davis had 3 hits with a triple and 2 RBI, and Taylor Ronchetto drove in a run for the Spartans.
“Other than a little blip against IC when we won 1-0, the hits have been coming when we need them and we play tough defense,” Remus said. “Our defense is what I’m happiest about.”
St. Francis was flawless behind Behnke, who allowed 5 hits and had 5 strikeouts in 3 innings of work and then Ronchetto, who only gave up a leadoff home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to BC’s Haley Albamonte.
Albamonte, Rebecca Roscher, Emily Bell and Brooke Gaylord doubled for the Rockets (12-11). Bell’s two-bagger drove in Gaylord with BC’s first run in the third.
But the loss left Rockets’ coach Cray Allen frustrated.
“I’m frustrated right now about our commitment level,” said Allen, who had several players out of position for various reasons. “We’re like Jekyll and Hyde. We know that with our young pitching we have to score and play defense to win games. If we don’t score and play defense we’re in trouble. Today we didn’t score and we didn’t bring our gloves and that’s a recipe for a short game.”
Allen’s team is the No. 1 seed in the upcoming Class 3A Kaneland regional, but experience tells the first-year BC coach that his team isn’t where he wants it to be as the postseason draws nearer.
“Passion, intensity and heart will be the most important thing for our program’s future,” he said. “The next 2-3 weeks will be a measuring stick for our future. It won’t be as much about wins and losses as how we approach the game.”