Batavia’s Ryan off to blazing start
Katie Ryan had Amanda Ciran’s attention before the Batavia sophomore center fielder stepped into the batter’s box Saturday at St. Charles North.
Four pitches later, the St. Charles North ace got a firsthand look at the area’s newest power sensation.
Ryan took Ciran’s 1-2 drop ball and golfed over the fence in right-center for her 10th home run of the season.
That blast gave Batavia an early spark. The Bulldogs had the 16-1 North Stars on the ropes all the way until the sixth inning before St. Charles North rallied for 3 runs and a 4-2 victory.
Afterward, both Ciran and her battery mate Annie Korth were shaking their heads with Ryan’s latest long ball.
“She can get a hold of anything,” said Ciran, who hasn’t been hit hard by anyone, now 12-0 this year.
“It was a nice inside drop ball. We said ‘Let’s not pitch her inside again.’ I knew she had a big bat so we were trying to keep it low the whole game. Lo and behold she can get the low ones too.”
Ciran gave up a bloop single to Ryan in her second at-bat, a ball that probably would have been caught in center field if the North Stars weren’t playing Ryan so deep. Ciran then retired Ryan the final two times including a comebacker to end the game.
Korth said they learned from that first-inning home run.
“It was a nice pitch, she just got it,” Korth said. “She’s a really good hitter.”
Ryan, who also enjoyed an excellent sophomore season as a power forward and center on Batavia’s basketball team, plays in the summer with the Wasco Diamonds.
“I’m surprised. I didn’t expect this,” Ryan said. “I think I was confident in my hitting. I felt I could make contact.”
Batavia coach Ashley Szymski also has been pleasantly surprised with all the home runs.
“You go into each season with an open mind,” Szymski said. “She is strong. I didn’t realize she would be the big power hitter she is. She’s also quick running wise. I expected more doubles, triples out of her than actual home runs but I’m not complaining.”
Ryan has given 12-4 Batavia a different kind of spark at the top of its lineup. A typical leadoff hitter might do it by bunting for a hit or getting on and stealing a couple bases, but Ryan’s a leadoff hitter like Rickey Henderson with the potential for a home run. Of her 10 home runs in her first 16 games, five have come leading off the game.
“Our lineup, we don’t have a true leadoff hitter,” Szymski said. “She gets the most at-bats that way. It’s not that I’m expecting her always to hit home runs, I’m just expecting her to hit it hard somewhere and get on base.”
Korth said the North Stars weren’t caught off guard with Batavia’s leadoff hitter Saturday having so much pop.
For starters, their coach Tom Poulin made sure to let them know what Ryan had been up to. And two, Korth said sometimes in the summer she sees coaches put their best hitters at the top of the lineup instead of the slappers you often see in high school softball.
“A lot in summer,” Korth said of having power at the top. “Depends what kind of order. High school not really, it’s lefties who are really fast. It’s definitely smart of them to put her first because she rips it so well.”
Ryan also gives Batavia a good glove in center field. She nearly robbed Taylor Russell of a double that started the winning rally in the sixth-inning, extending to get a glove on a ball hardly any center fielders could.
“That was a heck of a play to get a glove on it. She’s impressive, that team is impressive,” said Poulin.
“She is a scary batter. I’ve never been so nervous when someone comes up to the plate. After that first at-bat I said if nobody is on I have no problem walking her.”
Another power bat: St. Charles East senior RaeAnne Payleitner is right on Ryan’s heels in the home run chase with 9 home runs. She also has driven in 22 runs for the 9-10 Saints.Casey Basic is also hitting well with 14 RBI, 7 doubles and a team-high .424 batting average while shortstop Alexis Perez continues to set the table with her team-best 23 runs and 30 hits for a .411 batting average.Ace pitching like an ace: Despite Ryan#146;s leadoff homer Saturday, Korth said she had no doubt Ciran, nicknamed #145;Ace#146; would come back strong.#147;I have faith in Amanda she can do that and come back and shut all the batters down,#148; Korth said. #147;She never lost her confidence. That#146;s what#146;s great about her, she never gives up. We have fun her and I and just have a great time and just a great pitcher and I love her to death.#148;In the North Stars#146; wins Friday and Saturday over Tri-Cities rivals Geneva and Batavia, they fell behind 2-0 in the first both times.And both games Ciran slammed the door shut from there, giving her team the time it needed to come back and win.#147;She#146;s just a competitor,#148; Poulin said. #147;She#146;s just a competitor no matter what we are doing in practice, any sort of drill or game if you make it competitive and say there#146;s repercussions for losing, she is a competitor. Big-time players come through in big-time situations. I#146;m real proud of her. #147;We kind of take her for granted but you have to realize the way she is battling out there and getting through situations and overcoming some things over the course of the game. She keeps on plugging away. She gets better through the course of the game and seems to rise to the situation.#148;jlemon@dailyherald.com 1079717Batavias Katie Neubauer, left, is greeted by teammates Katie Coleman and Katie Ryan after breaking a tie in the eighth inning to defeat Huntley on March 19.Laura Stoecker/lstoecker@dailyherald.com