St. Charles North clinches UEC River title
St. Charles North freshman Kaitlyn Waslawski was staring at a fruitless afternoon at the plate Tuesday as dusk, not to mention inclement weather, rapidly approached.
But after 5 hitless at-bats against St. Charles East, Waslawski delivered the key blow of the epic encounter to ensure the North Stars’ fourth consecutive softball conference championship.
With runners at the corners in the top of the 13th inning against host St. Charles East, the North Stars’ ninth-grader laced a two-out, 2-run triple down the left-field line.
St. Charles East, which received a dramatic 3-run home run from Alex Latoria in its half of the 10th to extend the Upstate Eight Conference River Division contest, plated one run in the bottom of the 13th.
But senior right-hander Shannon Caliri — with lightening framing the northern skies — induced the final out with medium fly ball to center to secure the North Stars’ 7-6 victory.
Without a single returning starter from its reigning state runner-up Class 4A squad, St. Charles North (18-12 overall) clinched the title with its 13-4 conference record.
St. Charles East fell to 18-12, 9-9.
“I had to get those runs in,” Waslawski said of her shot down the line that St. Charles East left-fielder Sarah Collalti made a valiant, lunging attempt to catch. “We didn’t go all that way, all those innings, to give up. We kept fighting the whole time.”
Caliri (6-7) had to retire the Saints one final time to preserve the North Stars’ divisional championship.
Tess Hupe legged out a bang-bang play at first base with two outs to score Shannon Pedersen, but the North Stars’ hurler retired third-place hitter Casey Basic to complete her improbable 13-inning marathon start.
“Probably the most I’ve ever pitched in one game,” Caliri said. “We have bonded a lot better and come together as a team (as the season progressed).”
“I knew we were going to struggle early,” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “But I also knew that we had talent.”
The unfolding developments in the extra innings made the early portion of the game seem like a forgotten chapter in an uneven novel.
Caliri stranded the bases loaded in both the sixth and seventh innings; the Saints, meanwhile, gunned down North runners trying to score in both the eighth and ninth innings.
St. Charles North seemingly took command in the 10th inning when Emily Brodner drove home Sabrina Rabin with a two-out single to left.
When Abby Howlett proceeded to launch an opposite-field home run over the left-center fence, the North Stars’ lead had suddenly ballooned to 5-2.
But there was no quit in the Saints.
Collalti and Olivia Lorenzini reached with one out in the Saints’ half on a base hit and error, respectively.
Latoria, one of three East pitchers on the day, laced another opposite-field blast over the right-field wall.
“I just wanted to get those (3) runs back that they scored off me (in the top of the inning),” Latoria said. “I was just trying to hit a line drive somewhere.”
“(The pitch) probably caught a little too much of the plate,” Caliri said.
The teams’ 4 combined runs in regulation came in almost identical fashion: with runners at second and third and one out, each team had a base hit.
When the respective outfielder failed to field the ball properly, both runners scored.
Lorenzini had the key hit for the Saints in their fourth, while Mickey Goetz did likewise for the North Stars in their sixth.
Goetz also made the defensive play of the game when the sophomore shortstop snared Kate Peterburs’ smash up the middle and tagged second base with her glove hand ahead of the fast-charging Basic.
The unassisted putout with the bases loaded and two outs in the Saints’ seventh sent the game into extra innings, tied at 2-2.
“(Goetz) has grown by leaps and bounds,” Poulin said.
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