Softball: St. Charles East overpowers Schaumburg
Katie Arrambide did just about everything but throw out the ceremonial first pitch in the first inning of the St. Charles East-Schaumburg softball season opener Tuesday afternoon.
The starting pitcher for St. Charles East, the sophomore whiffed the Schaumburg side to begin the game.
The Saints' leadoff hitter, Arrambide smoked a vicious line drive over the left-center field fence to usher in the St. Charles East offensive season in the bottom of the inning.
Arrambide pitched no-hit softball for four innings, and her replacement, freshman Izzy Howe, laced a bases-loaded single to right in the bottom of the fifth to terminate the game as the Saints won 10-0 in St. Charles.
"I hadn't led off last year, so it was kind of new to me," Arrambide said. "After seeing a couple of balls on a few pitches, I was really zoned in. It was just one of those pitches I didn't think about swinging at. We came out really strong and aggressive (offensively)."
Lauren Luna, the Saints' first baseman, and Arrambide shared identical offensive statistics.
In their combined six plate appearances, Luna and Arrambide both fell a triple shy of the cycle with a home run, double and single.
"I wasn't trying to hit a home run or do anything special," Luna said. "I was just trying to drive through the ball."
Luna drove home Arrambide and Alexandra Wooten to stretch the Saints' lead to 3-0 in the third.
Two batters after Arrambide plated Elliott Sanders and Kati Gheorghe with a double down the third-base line one inning later, Luna launched her home run to left-center with a much more conventional flight path.
Arrambide had been picked off second after overrunning the base, but Wooten extended the Saints' fourth with yet another extra-base hit, a triple, to set the stage for Luna.
"I think we can be really, really good," Luna said.
In her four innings on the mound, Arrambide allowed but a pair of walks against 8 strikeouts for St. Charles East (1-0).
"My focus was to go at (the Saxons) and throw strikes," Arrambide said.
Tatiana Cooper greeted Howe with a single the other way to start the Saxons' fifth, but Sanders robbed Marisa Vodicka of sure extra bases in right center one out later to preserve the shutout.
"I knew I had to haul tail as fast as I could to get that ball," Sanders said of her diving, stabbing catch. "Once I saw it, I knew I couldn't get it on my feet."
"You can't hit the ball any harder than that," Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu said. "She made a great play."
Kim Kolodziej had the defensive highlight for the Saxons as the freshman second baseman tagged out a runner and threw to first to end the Saints' third.
"We can only go up from here," Abreu said of the Saxons' opener. "This is our first time seeing live pitching off another team's pitcher."