St. Charles North splits with Plainfield Central
After starting Tuesday’s season-opening doubleheader against visiting Plainfield Central looking like they would deliver a knockout punch, the St. Charles North softball team instead left with a split decision.
The North Stars dominated Game 1, scoring 6 runs in the first inning on their way to a 10-0 victory in 5 innings.
But their bats went cold in the second game, 2 errors led to 3 unearned runs and Plainfield Central went on to a 3-1 victory.
Not exactly the way the North Stars (1-1) wanted to open their season under new coach Tom Poulin. It turned out to be similar to last year when they split a doubleheader at Plainfield Central (2-1) to start what became a wildly successful 29-4 season but ended with a regional-opening loss to York.
Poulin was so excited to get started he couldn’t fall asleep Monday night.
“It’s crazy,” Poulin said. “I wasn’t nervous until last night. I barely slept. There are such high expectations. I don’t want the girls to get tight when they get down. I don’t want them to feel like they have to win 300-0 every game and justify everyone’s opinions. We just have to go out and play pitch by pitch and inning by inning.”
Poulin said he didn’t think his team got tight Tuesday when they managed just 5 hits in Game 2 against Kaleigh Nagle, a sophomore making her first varsity start for the Wildcats. She didn’t walk a batter. After the Wildcats made 5 errors in Game 1, they played flawless until a seventh-inning error led to the North Stars’ only run.
“I don’t think they got tight,” Poulin said. “You have to tip your hat to that pitcher. We beat the ball into the ground. We may have been able to do a little better job of being more patient at the plate. It’s a great lesson to learn you can beat someone 10-0 and they can turn around and beat you.”
After Ciran fired a 4-hit shutout in Game 1, senior Emily Watts took the loss in the second game. Plainfield Central got all the runs it needed in the second, both unearned after an error kept the inning alive for Morgan Vogt’s RBI single and then Olivia Scott was hit on the helmet with a pitch with the bases loaded.
Ashley Seering doubled and singled for the North Stars, 2 of their 5 hits. JuliClare Plezbert drove in the only run with a seventh-inning single before the Wildcats turned a 4-3 double play to end the game.
“We all know what we are capable of,” St. Charles North senior Amanda Ciran said. “This loss will let us know we can lose, it’s not a given we are going to win. It means we have to work hard every game. I think it was a nice note to everybody that we still have to work hard.”
Ciran dominated Game 1 with her drop ball baffling the Wildcats. She allowed 4 hits, 0 walks and 0 runs in 5 innings, fanning four and throwing just 62 pitches.
Sydney Russell, in the leadoff spot after batting third last year, responded by going 4-for-4 with 3 runs including a double to start the North Stars’ 6-run first inning. Taylor Russell (2-3, 3 RBI) drove in the first run, and Annie Korth, Natalie Capone, Plezbert and Ciran also had RBI in the first inning as the North Stars capitalized on 3 Plainfield Central errors.
The North Stars built their lead to 9-0 on Korth’s sacrifice fly in the second and Taylor Russell’s RBI single and Seering’s sac fly in the fourth. They ended the game early when Taylor Russell lofted another sac fly in the fifth to score pinch runner freshman Sabrina Rabin.
“Everybody was working off each other’s energy,” Ciran said. “We were just ready to go. We have had practice for so long. We were ready to go out and have a game. I think it was a great way to start our season.”
Wildcats coach Anne Campbell also was encouraged especially the way her defense rebounded in Game 2 and how her new sophomore Nagle pitched.
“There’s not really a 1 and a 2,” Campbell said of her two pitchers. “It’s too early in the season. In practice she has been throwing the ball well and has good movement on it. I was anxious to see what she could do. I was impressed because they (SCN) are one of the top teams in the area.”
The North Stars will try to bounce back at Schaumburg Wednesday.