Class 4A state softball preview
By John Lemon
jlemon@dailyherald.com
Class 4A state softball preview
St. Charles North (31-3) vs. New Trier (23-11)
Time: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: EastSide Centre, East Peoria
How they got here: St. Charles North defeated Glenbard East 5-0 and Lake Park 11-1 to win the St. Charles East regional, they beat Leyden 3-2 in 10 innings and Elk Grove 3-1 in 8 innings to win the Schaumburg sectional, and they defeated DeKalb 12-4 to win the DeKalb supersectional.
New Trier defeated Lincoln Park 13-0 and Loyola 8-0 to win Resurrection regional, they beat Lane 3-2 and Glenbrook South 8-1 to win the New Trier sectional, and they beat Lake Zurich 3-2 in 8 innings to win the Glenbrook South supersectional.
Scouting St. Charles North: The North Stars have as dominant pitcher as there is in Loyola-bound Amanda Ciran (23-1, 1.11 ERA), speed at the top of the order in Sydney Russell (.427 average, 21 runs) and Loren Cihlar (.381 average, 30 runs), and power bats like Taylor Russell (.459 average, 7 home runs, 44 RBI) and Ashley Seering (.468 average, 6 triples, 6 home runs, 43 RBI). What sometimes gets overlooked is how well the rest of the North Stars lineup can hit. Their No. 5-9 hitters all had 2 hits in their supersectional win over DeKalb. “That has happened all year,” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “It just hasn’t happened since the tournament started. They are quality hitters. They have been up there and have pushed across a lot of runs especially insurance runs all year.” The group includes shortstop Natalie Capone (.322, 23 runs), catcher Annie Korth (.357, 2 home runs, 17 RBI), Ciran (.326, 6 home runs, 23 RBI), Emily Watts (.300, 15 runs, 20 RBI) and Caitlin Khoury (.338, 13 RBI). “Everyone in our lineup, there’s no downside,” Watts said. “Everyone has their position, they are there for a certain reason and are doing their jobs.” While St. Charles North is making its first state appearance, don’t expect the North Stars to be afraid of the big stage. All nine of their regulars are seniors. Already a confident bunch, sectional wins over Leyden and Elk Grove send the North Stars into state this weekend knowing they have what it takes to beat any of the remaining teams and bring a state championship back to St. Charles. The North Stars also learned from a shaky first inning on Monday against DeKalb when they gave up four runs that they need to bring their best from the opening pitch.
Scouting New Trier: Coach John Cadwell’s Trevians are making their 11th state trip, the fourth under Cadwell. Most recently they finished fourth in state in both 2006 and 2008. The Trevians started the year 0-4 and 2-6 before getting on track with a 12-game winning streak. Junior Brigit Leuter is their top pitcher with a 16-8 record and 1.91 ERA. She has 202 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings. Senior Chelsea Delaney provides the big bat in the lineup with a .451 average, 10 home runs and 46 RBI. Other top hitters include Ryan Lee (.286, 3 home runs), Raechel Cloud (.345, 24 runs), Mimi Morris (.381 average, 28 runs) and Jackie Stern (.396 average, 27 runs).
Advancement: Winner plays Benet (31-9) or Moline (26-8) at 7 p.m. Saturday
Speaking of Benet: For more on the Redwings and their matchup with Moline in the other state semifinal, see page 9.
— Compiled by John Lemon