Softball: St. Charles East wins 4th straight regional crown

Regional championships are nothing new for St. Charles East's softball team.

Riding the right arm of pitcher Katie Arrambide and displaying a balanced offensive attack, the Saints (22-10) captured their fourth consecutive Class 4A regional title - sixth in the last seven years - with Friday afternoon's 11-1, 5-inning triumph over Schaumburg in St. Charles.

Arrambide, a sophomore, allowed a run on 5 hits while striking out 11 in a dominant performance.

"Just spots and corners," Arrambide said of her pitching approach. "I was trying not to give anyone too much to hit."

After Arrambide worked out of a 2-on, 2-out situation in the top half of the first inning, the Saints allowed their mound ace a little breathing room in the bottom half of the frame thanks in part to Maddy Stout's 3-run home run.

The ball barely carried over the outstretched glove of the Saxons' outfielder.

"It looked like it was going to be caught - I was nervous," said the University of Indianapolis-bound Stout, who now has 9 home runs for the season and 25 career round-trippers - 1 behind former Saints standout RaeAnne Payleitner (26) for second place on the school's all-time list.

Stout's older sister, Rylee, owns the school's career home run mark with 36.

"I really wanted to hit one today," said Stout.

Giving a pitcher like Arrambide a 3-0 lead is a recipe for success.

"The key to having a nice easygoing mentality for the game is that we jumped on them 3-0 right away," said Saints coach Jarod Gutesha, whose team advances to Tuesday's Glenbard West sectional semifinals against Saturday's South Elgin-Fremd winner.

"With the defense we have and Katie (Arrambide) in the circle, that makes it feel much better being three runs up - and we added and added."

Alex Wooten's 2-run home run highlighted the Saints' 2-run third that extended their lead to 5-0.

After the Saxons scored their lone run on Sophie Rainey's RBI single in the fourth, the top-seeded Saints made it 7-1 in the bottom half of the inning.

Izzy Howe led off with a single before Kati Gheorghe reached on a perfectly placed bunt single down the first-base line.

Pinch runner Kayla Richardson came all the way around from first to score on the play following an errant throw before Arrambide helped her own cause with an RBI double.

The Saints sealed the decision with a 4-run fifth that included Howe's RBI single and was capped by Krista Sbarra's 2-run single through the middle, setting off a celebratory scene near the pitcher's mound.

"Not everybody wins a regional so you're right, we're going to celebrate it," said Gutesha.

"I know there have been days where the bats have been absent but they have not been absent in our first two (postseason) games. We hope that continues as we move on to Tuesday."

Rainey had 2 of the Saxons' 5 hits while Talia Torosian added a double.

"You have to congratulate them (the Saints) on a well-played game," said Schaumburg coach Ellen Abreu, whose team finished 11-20 after going 3-21 in 2018. "They're a good team.

"I think we improved a lot. There's a lot of room to grow still but with a little bit of work I think we'll be good."

Meanwhile, the Saints will look for bigger and better things next week.

"We're definitely going for more," said Stout.