St. Charles North's Ciran nearly perfect in latest no-hitter
No-hitter?
No big deal.
So says both the person who threw it and the player who made the best defensive play to save it.
St. Charles North junior Amanda Ciran came within a second-inning error of throwing a perfect game against Schaumburg Wednesday in the North Stars' swift 3-0 victory that took just over an hour.
The Saxons (3-1), who only hit three balls out of the infield, had about as much luck hitting Ciran as she did remember how many no-hitters she has thrown.
"I have no idea," Ciran said. "It's been a lot. I don't even keep count even more.
"I really don't even try to think about it. Just batter-by-batter, pitch-by-pitch. You couldn't do it without your defense and we have a strong defense on our team."
Shortstop Natalie Capone anchors that defense. She scooped Alyssa Lancaster's sharp grounder in the third inning and threw her out at first base, the closest the Saxons came to a hit.
"I honestly know now that you told me," Capone said of Ciran's no-hitter. "I didn't even notice it. It's awesome for her. Her pitching was amazing today."
Ciran struck out seven. Schaumburg's Alexis Carravetta and Brianne Lingl flew out to center and right in the first inning, then the Saxons didn't get another ball to the outfield until North Stars center fielder Loren Cihlar snared Carravetta's sinking liner leading off the seventh.
Ciran followed by getting the final two outs on a bunt and a grounder to third baseman Taylor Russell, giving her three outs on three pitches in the seventh.
"Ciran did phenomenal today and I think it's just good that she knows we are there to back her up," Capone said. "Trust is a big issue and we seem to capture it and it seems to help our pitchers out that we are there. Even if we do make an error we all pick each other up."
Ciran improved to 2-0 following her win over Plainfield Central on Tuesday. The North Stars (2-1) have won two straight following their opening loss.
Ciran went to one 3-0 count on Becca Thompson in the fifth before battling back to retire her on a comebacker. The only baserunner came in the second when Thompson bunted and the North Stars couldn't handle Ciran's throw to first.
Ciran said her screwball was the key pitch Wednesday.
"Normally I only like to throw it to lefties," said Ciran, who worked with battery mate Annie Korth. "But today it was working so well we decided to throw it to righties. I felt it boosted my confidence a lot."
Schaumburg's starter Lancaster (3-1) matched Ciran's no-hitter through four innings. St. Charles North's all-junior lineup finally got its first base runner when Ashley Seering laced a single up the middle with one out in the fifth.
Ciran walked, and Julia Clare Plezbert's bunt put runners at second and third. Korth broke the scoreless tie when she beat out an infield hit to short.
"I thought our kids would break out a little sooner but I'm glad they did when they did to at least generate that one run and then give us a little confidence," St. Charles North coach April Stary said. "I thought their pitcher did a really good job keeping us off balance."
The North Stars broke the game open with two runs in the sixth when the Saxons defense broke down. Capone had the only hit in the inning, a single. Three Schaumburg errors led directly to two runs and a 3-0 lead.
"Our defense let up a little bit and I think they lost their focus late in the game,"Schaumburg coach Erin Malinowski said. "It's early in the season and I think this is the time they aren't used to playing the whole game and focusing out there. That's something we're going to work on and be able to eliminate in the future."
Schaumburg will try to bounce back Saturday at the Barrington quad.
"She (Ciran) was keeping off balance, she was doing a good job of that," Malinowski said. "Our kids did a good job of laying off the outside pitches but we got a lot of two strikes on batters and that put us in a lot of defensive positions at the plate."