Experience paying off for St. Francis
Three years ago St. Francis coach Ralph Remus brought up a group of five freshmen to varsity. Predictably, they took their share of lumps.
They have been dishing them out ever since.
St. Francis (20-4, 14-0 Suburban Christian Blue), which already has clinched its third straight conference title, is a win away from going unbeaten in the league.
Big credit to that goes to a senior group that includes Laura Behnke, Taylor Ronchetto, Emily Karpinski and Lauren Gorski.
“It was a class I expected a lot out of,” Remus said.
To get an idea of how dominant the Spartans are in-league this year, consider this: their most nearest pursuers in the Blue are Chicago Christian and St. Edward. In the last week St. Francis beat Chicago Christian 7-0 behind a Ronchetto no-hitter and whipped St. Edward 11-1.
“When it’s a big game, they always come through,” Remus said. “We’ve dominated this year and we thought we had the talent to do it.”
Mersch moving in on record:Downers Grove South has extra motivation for a long playoff run.More Marissa Mersch at-bats.The Mustangs#146; senior leadoff hitter is creeping toward the state#146;s all-time hit record. With 60 hits this year, Mersch sits at 241 #8212; 11 shy of the record 252 set by Kankakee#146;s Allie VadeBoncouer in 2010.Downers Grove South has regular-season games left with Glenbard West on Friday and against Stagg on Saturday.The Mustangs are the No. 2 seed in the Oswego East sectional and open regional play Tuesday vs. the Waubonsie Valley/Oswego winner.#147;It#146;s gonna be tough,#148; Mustangs coach Ron Havelka said.Mersch has capped a standout four years with her best yet. The Wisconsin-bound center fielder is hitting .588 with 45 runs scored, 14 doubles, 3 triples, 6 homers and 38 runs batted in.She is hitting .781 (25-32) with runners in scoring position with an on-base percentage over .650. Mersch shattered the school record of 181 earlier this year and has 76 multi-hit games in 130 played.#147;She#146;s been a phenomenal player, one of the best leadoff hitters in the state,#148; Havelka said. #147;Coming out of eighth grade she was a great player right away. A great kid with a great passion for the game.#148;Don#146;t sleep on Mustangs:If opponents of first-year varsity program Metea Valley thought the Mustangs were easy pickings this spring, it#146;s been a rude awakening.Metea can play #8212; and can really hit.The Mustangs are 14-11 overall, 9-9 in the Upstate Eight Valley. Metea already had wins over Elgin, St. Charles East and South Elgin in its back pocket, but its biggest win was probably last Saturday.Metea beat Bartlett 3-0, in all likelihood costing the Hawks a share of the UEC Valley title.#147;I think other teams thought early on we were not going to be able to compete,#148; said Metea coach Kris Kalivas, #147;but once we started to put runs on the board we started to get that respect pretty quickly.#148;Metea is averaging more than 8 runs per game and isn#146;t just laying it on weaker teams. The Mustangs beat South Elgin 17-3 and lost a 13-12 slugfest at UEC Valley champion Lake Park.If good softball teams are defined by strength up the middle, Metea is well-served now and into the future. Junior catcher Jenn Faassen is hitting .500 with 31 RBI, sophomore shortstop Anna Petersen .463 with 8 homers and 34 RBI and freshman center fielder Alisa Perna .388 with 30 runs scored.#147;Faassen does so much for us all-around, and is a leader for a young pitching staff,#148; Kalivas said. #147;Petersen has such a smooth swing and hits the ball well, and Perna has got us going leading off. But honestly, I don#146;t have a lot of weak spots in my lineup.#148;