Softball: Huntley, Bower get best of St. Charles East again
Nobody wanted to call it a rematch, but it was hard watching Huntley and St. Charles East square off Friday without thinking back to their last meeting.
That came in the 2019 Class 4A state championship game, a thriller that Huntley won 1-0 to claim the school's first state title.
Both coaches and a few of the key participants were back on the diamond Friday in St. Charles, none more impactful than Huntley ace Bri Bower.
The Mississippi State-bound senior, who shut the Saints out to win the state title, was almost as good. She struck out 15, walked none and allowed just 3 hits in a 2-1 win.
"We've been waiting, what, two years to have a rematch?" Bower said. "It was fun to be here and playing them. It was a good game."
Bower's gem snapped a 14-game winning streak for St. Charles East (21-4), who also returns its ace from that state title game.
But with Katie Arrambide pitching Thursday, it was Izzy Howe's turn in the circle.
Howe did her best to match Bower, limiting Huntley (22-6) to 4 hits, all singles.
The only two errors by either team proved the difference, leading to unearned runs for Huntley in the first and third innings that Bower made stand up.
"Once we put one up it gives Bri a little cushion and she threw lights out today," said Huntley coach Mark Petryniec, whose lineup Friday also included Marley Reicher, Reese Hunkins and Jori Heard from the state team.
"That's a memory for us coaches and the girls that were on that team but half our team is new and didn't have that experience. This is about making their own identity. St. Charles East is just a great team and this is a great competition to get us ready for the postseason. This was exactly what we thought it would be, a one-run game."
Reicher drew a one-out walk in the first and stole second. Bower also walked, and with runners at first and third and two outs, the Red Raiders stole the first run on a double steal, with the Saints throwing back to the pitcher on the play but mishandling the throw.
Huntley also capitalized on a two-out infield error in the third inning that plated Clara Hudgens, who had reached on an infield single and stole second.
While Arrambide didn't pitch, she did account for the Saints' only run with a home run in the fifth after Bower had retired the first 12 batters.
"I was just trusting my swing, my reaction and not guessing what she was going to throw," said Arrambide, who gained confidence from hitting a long foul ball to right on the pitch before. "The timing was there, it was just trusting myself."
The Saints put the tying run at second base in the fifth and sixth innings - singles and stolen bases by Elliott Sanders and Nikki Johnston - and each time Bower left them there, striking out three and getting a diving catch on a soft liner from Alexandra Kiriakopoulos.
Hunkins at shortstop and third baseman Maddie Smith also made good plays behind Bower, now 20-5.
"You can't expect her to strike out everyone," Smith said. "You have to be ready for anything and that's pretty much what I had to do. Had to be ready for it."
Howe pitched well in defeat, striking out 11 and not walking another batter after the first inning. She relied on her screw and curve and mixed in a few riseballs and changeups.
"They (Huntley's bench) were loud but I was trying to focus and throw it in there," Howe said. "I was zeroing in and focusing on throwing strikes."
The Saints finish a busy eight-game week with three more games Saturday at Marengo's invite.
"You don't like to make a mistake, but it's not our final game of the season," Saints coach Jarod Gutesha said. "Those are the little things that help you grow as a team, and that's what we are trying to do."