St. Charles East's bats deliver against Burlington Central
It would be just fine with St. Charles East softball coach Kelly Horan if every player on her team ended up wearing a Fluer-dis-lis on their helmet this spring.
That would likely mean the Saints would have another banner - and fun - season.
The Fluer-dis-lis is the official name for the Saints' symbol and even though Horan's team played its first game on Monday, two Saints - juniors Katie Kolb and Kelly Rinker - already have earned the right to wear it, which comes by way of nomination from their teammates for being a good teammate.
Kolb had a big day for the Saints Monday, going 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, 2 runs scored and 2 RBI as St. Charles East opened its 2015 campaign with a 9-5 nonconference win over Burlington Central in a game that was moved to St. Charles when BC's field was deemed unplayable.
"You have to be a great teammate and you have to be nominated by your teammates to wear the Fluer-dis-lis," said Horan. "(Kolb) is just that. She's a great teammate who works harder than anything. She's dialed in and she's a fighter. She's an all-around player."
The Saints also got a strong effort from senior Alex Latoria in the circle and at the plate. The Evansville recruit struck out eight, walked five and allowed 3 earned runs while also blasting a 2-run home run as the Saints got 9 hits off Burlington Central junior Emily Kisch.
"She's a senior and she's the biggest competitor ever," said Horan of Latoria. "I'm real happy with the way she pitched and offensively she's always been in tune."
As were the Saints after they went through the order one time against Kisch (0-2).
St. Charles East scored an unearned run in the first inning. Freshman Madelyn Candre was hit by a pitch and later scored on back-to-back infield errors, the first of six miscues by the Rockets (0-2) in the game.
The Saints then made it a 4-0 game in the top of the third. Rinker led off with a single and was forced out at second on Candre's grounder back to Kisch. Kolb then delivered an RBI triple to the fence in right field ahead of Latoria's laser shot over the fence in left that gave SCE a 4-0 lead.
"I was impressed (with Kisch). She's a very good pitcher with a lot of movement," Kolb said. "The first time through the lineup was a little rough but we made our adjustments. We're a good hitting team."
Which is something Horan knows isn't breaking news.
"I don't think it will be a secret that offensively we'll be pretty tough," the coach said. "We just need to get the at-bats."
The Saints scored another unearned run in the top of the fifth when Kolb singled, advanced to third on errors and scored on an RBI single from sophomore Jordan Hieber, who was 2-for-3 with a double.
The Rockets, who were no-hit in their season opener against Kaneland, came back and made it a 5-3 game in the bottom of the inning. Junior Jill Neisendorf led off with a walk and with two outs Kisch singled. A Kristina Ahlers double drove in Neisendorf and after Kassy Gaylord drew a walk, sophomore Gretchen Schrubbe delivered a 2-run single to bring the Rockets within two.
But the Saints used two more BC errors, RBI singles from Rinker and Kolb and an RBI groundout by sophomore Delaney Devor in the top of the sixth to make it a 9-3 game.
BC added 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh, one scoring on a sacrifice fly by Gaylord, but Latoria ended the game with a strikeout.
"I thought Emily hit her locations fine but you gotta field the ball," said Rockets' coach Kyle Molik. "I thought we had a nice approach at the plate today and I thought we made significant progress from the first game. We've really focused on hitting since then, being aggressive and putting pressure on the defense. We had a better mental approach at the plate today but defensively we have to tighten things up. Emily threw 110 pitches today. We have to make sure we're backing her up on the field."