THE INSIDER: Softball
By JAY SCHWAB
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jschwab@kcchronicle.com
ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Kelly McCaffrey, Geneva, So., P
What she did: McCaffrey’s pitching was a huge reason Geneva was able to win the Byron Tournament on Saturday. McCaffrey threw a pair of five-inning shutouts in the event, a no-hitter against North Boone and a two-hitter against Rochelle, as Geneva went 3-0 on the day.
Coach Greg Dierks says: "She pitched very well all weekend. It speaks for itself ... And we had good defense behind her, too. But she's been real consistent all year."
HIGH FIVE RANKINGS
1. St. Charles East (10-4). Rae Anne Payleitner has been among the most consistent bats for an East team that is a perfect 6-0 in Upstate Eight play.
2. Kaneland (13-5). The Knights’ pitching is in top form. The 1-2 punch of Mallory Huml and Delani Vest have Kaneland playing its best ball.
4. St. Charles North (10-5). North might have the deepest staff in the area. Christine Roggeman, stuck behind Amanda Ciran and Amanda Engel in the rotation, blanked East Aurora on Friday.
4. Batavia (10-7). Sophomore pitcher Brooke Nelson is enjoying a solid stretch, and helped the Bulldogs split with West Chicago on Saturday with a 2-0, Game 2 shutout win.
5. Geneva (8-10). The Vikings enjoyed a 3-0 day at the Byron Tournament on Saturday, finding enough offense to support Kelly McCaffrey and Kristyn Ruitenberg.
NOTEWORTHY
Crosstown meeting: Kelly Barnett plans on taking a grounded approach to her first St. Charles East-St. Charles North meeting as the Saints’ head coach. The Saints visit the North Stars this afternoon.
“I know I don’t have to supply the kids with the emotions,” Barnett said. “It’s automatically there, so we really just try to take the focus that it’s a conference game. That’s it.”
The Saints, who had a meeting with East Aurora postponed for the second time on Monday, boast a surprising 6-0 Upstate Eight Conference mark. Barnett said she does not sense her team starting to focus on a potential conference title run.
“[St. Charles North], in the scheme of things, it’s another conference game,” Barnett said. “We’ll have to get excited and hopefully we’re prepared, but as far as the kids looking too far ahead, no. What’s so great about our conference is as soon as you look ahead is as soon as you lose.”
Barnett said she expects the North Stars to be one of the teams East has to duke it out with to the finish in the UEC race.
While North is a more youthful team than East, many members of the North Stars’ deep sophomore class logged varsity time as freshmen. That’s why Barnett does not consider her team more seasoned than coach April Stary’s North Stars.
“April says it best. ... It’s the same young team but really not that young because they already have a year of experience,” Barnett said.
Pitching partners: Not that either needs much help these days, but Kaneland pitchers Mallory Huml and Delani Vest had each other’s backs during a doubleheader sweep against Woodstock on Saturday.
When Vest was on the rubber in Game 1, Huml went 3-for-3 at the plate in Kaneland’s 3-0 win, and Vest returned the favor with a 3-for-3 game in the nightcap as Huml pitched the Knights to a 3-1 victory.
So much for pitchers helping themselves. It appears that Huml and Vest would rather help their teammate.
It’s not that unusual for either pitching standout to play a substantial role in the Knights’ offense.
“They’re both pretty good athletes,” Kaneland coach Dennis Hansen said. “They can both run well and field well and pitch well. They’re doing a very good job.”
The Knights have won eight of their last nine games.
Crazy numbers: Though she missed the first few games of the season with the flu, South Elgin senior Kim Pierce’s stat line is plenty healthy.
In 13 games, Pierce is batting .605 for the Storm with three home runs, seven doubles, a triple and 17 RBIs. The Indiana State recruit’s slugging percentage is 1.023.
Saturday was a particularly sizzling day. In a doubleheader against Prairie Ridge, Pierce went 7-for-9 with six RBIs, leading South Elgin (10-7) to a pair of wins.
– Jay Schwab, jschwab@kcchronicle.com
COACH SLY SAYS
Coach Sly thinks whichever team wins this East-North rumble has a real chance to do some damage in the UEC race. Sly still thinks the North Stars are the more talented bunch, but there’s no denyin’ this East squad knows how to play winning softball, so it should be a good one. It might still be April, but there’s gonna be June intensity in STC today, baby.
For more of Coach Sly’s thoughts, check out kcchronicle.com/blogs/coachsly/.
