St. Charles East's Howe shuts out Kaneland
The spotlight, it appears, is the exact spot Izzy Howe thrives in.
St. Charles East's senior pitcher recorded 15 strikeouts to out-duel Kaneland counterpart Grace Algrim on Tuesday afternoon in St. Charles.
Howe and Algrim, who are travel teammates, faced off for the first time in their respective varsity careers.
It didn't disappoint.
"It's good competition," Howe said. "It's nice facing [Algrim]. I've known her since I was 12."
For Howe, that relationship didn't affect the approach coming in.
"We're cool, we come to play," said Howe, who limited Kaneland (0-1) to two singles and a walk in a complete-game effort.
The Saints (3-0) scored the game's only run on an RBI groundout from Mel Stathopoulos in the bottom of the first inning. St. Charles East was limited to just three hits the rest of the way, giving credence to both solid defense behind Algrim and Algrim herself.
Algrim finished with four strikeouts.
"I'm not happy with the strikeouts we had offensively, but Grace threw an exceptional game," Kaneland coach Mike Kuefler said. "It was one walk and no errors, so just a great game. All [Howe and Algrim do] is elevate the play in the area. They do compete at that high level with their summer team and then they come out here and get to face each other and just them pitching against each other elevates the intensity of both teams right away."
Howe last season shared the pitching spotlight with since-graduated St. Charles East star Katie Arrambide. Now Howe is the face of the Saints' circle.
"I just try my best and give it my all," Howe said. "I know this team has my back; they're all so athletic this year. They've got my back."
Saints coach Jarod Gutesha is hardly surprised at Howe's success.
"I think if you look back to last year, you look at the games [Howe] pitched in, she was 8-4, but she pitched in some huge games," Gutesha said. "Lincoln-Way Central was one of the best teams in the state last year; we lost to Huntley ... she pitched against great teams. The No. 1 team in the state last year, we beat, and Izzy was pitching. Izzy has pitched in plenty of big games and I absolutely know she's ready to step up to that one spot."
Meanwhile Stathopoulos, a senior outfielder, is building upon a junior season that, while seeing playing time, wasn't an every day player.
Stathopoulos will have that chance now.
"I know that's her goal this year, to be an everyday player," Gutesha said. "Where the cards will fall, we've still got plenty of season. She started off game one with two home runs and six RBI. She swung it well then and [this run] didn't leave the infield, but it got the only run of the game so it's good enough."