St. Francis removes all suspense in win
Evidently, St. Francis was in no mood for a dramatic finish in its rematch with Montini.
Two weeks after losing on a walk-off homer, the Spartans scored 7 runs in the first inning and Maggie Remus threw a no-hitter as St. Francis rolled 12-0 in five innings in Wheaton.
The Spartans (21-2, 11-1 Suburban Christian Conference Blue), who won their 10th straight and all but wrapped up the SCC Blue title, sent 11 batters to the plate in the first, then batted around again in a 5-run third.
Not even veteran coach Ralph Remus saw that coming.
“I’ve never had a first inning like that,” coach Remus said. “Last time we played them we did not hit that pitcher hard. Today we came out aggressive.”
The only suspense was whether Maggie Remus (17-1) would throw her first high school no-hitter. The tall sophomore did indeed, working out of a two-on, one-out jam in the fifth with her fourth and fifth strikeouts to end it. Maggie Remus retired the first seven batters she faced before Alex Dewey reached on an error in the third.
Maggie Remus had Montini flailing all day at a slow changeup, a pitch she features more than many pitchers.
“Today we just had the upper hand on them all game,” Maggie Remus said. “I love the changeup; it’s my favorite pitch. I just try to keep it down in the zone.”
“She did a nice job keeping them off stride,” said Ralph Remus, Maggie’s coach and dad. “She’s not overpowering, but she hits her spots and changes her speeds well.”
Remus had more than enough cushion to work with. St. Francis’ first five batters of the first inning reached, starting with Aly Germanos’ line-drive single. Brie Pasquale doubled in Germanos, and Alyssa Fernandez singled in Carragher. Remus lined a single to score Carley Pasquale to make it 5-0, and Germanos capped things off with a towering two-run double that just missed clearing the center-field fence.
Germanos, whose seventh-inning tying homer in the teams’ first game was one-upped by Sara Ross’ walk-off shot for Montini, doubled again in the third to make it 8-0.
“We talked about bringing up the intensity right away because last game was a close game,” Germanos said. “We all came out strong and picked each other up. Just looking for the first strike there.”
Montini (13-10, 9-3) broke out new black uniforms with pink trim to kick off its breast cancer awareness month, but the new digs did not bring the Broncos good fortune.
“My mother’s a cancer survivor, so it’s a cause near and dear to my heart,” Montini coach Richie Costante said. “St. Francis, they were ready to hit and we weren’t. They are a much better team than what we saw two weeks ago. I’d love to get another shot at them in sectionals.”
Carragher added a booming two-run double in the third and Fernandez put the finishing touches on a 16-hit onslaught with her third homer of the year, a two-run shot onto the St. Francis’ baseball field. St. Francis has scored 10 or more runs in five of its last seven games.
“I’ve tried to convince the kids that that first strike has to be their favorite,” coach Remus said. “Why reach for a ball when you have no strikes or one strike? Get up in the count, get your favorite pitch and drive it.”