North deals East 1st UEC loss
ST. CHARLES – The St. Charles North softball team is starting to develop a mentality that coach April Stary can’t help but love.
“When the going gets tough, they just kind of sink their teeth in and don’t let go,” Stary said. “That was one of those instances today where everybody had to pull together to do a little bit of something, and everybody did.”
The North Stars didn’t relax their grip until five runs had crossed in the bottom of the fifth inning, the decisive segment of Tuesday’s 6-4 Upstate Eight Conference win against first-place St. Charles East.
North (11-5, 6-2 UEC) trailed, 3-1, when it came to bat in the bottom of the fifth. The frame started with a dandy diving catch in left field by East’s Steph Roan, but that turned out to be a misleading start to the inning.
Twin sisters Sydney Russell and Taylor Russell trimmed East’s lead to one when Sydney was hit by a Gaby Moe pitch and Taylor followed with an RBI double. The first of three East errors in the inning – the only errors East committed on the day – extended the rally, and RBI singles by Ashley Seering and Kristin Damm fortified the North Stars’ comeback.
Moe (9-2) was replaced with East ahead, 3-2, and runners at the corners with one out in favor of junior Katie Stengler but the change did not have the desired effect for East.
“That was a good time to try and change up the momentum,” Saints coach Kelly Barnett said.
Taylor Russell, one of eight sophomores in North’s starting lineup, finished the day 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI doubles.
“I just wanted to relax,” she said. “Usually when I get overanxious I get all wacky and I swing at bad pitches.”
Stary said she is growing accustomed to days such as Tuesday from her No. 3 hitter.
“This year for some reason it’s just working and nobody’s complaining,” Stary said. “Everybody’s smiling. She gets up there and she’s got a green light to do whatever she wants.”
The loss was the first of the conference season for East (10-5, 6-1 UEC).
“We have to put it in perspective,” Barnett said. “It’s one game. Every team’s going to have a down day.”
Really, it was more like a down inning. East led most of the afternoon, thanks to single runs off North’s Amanda Engel (6-0) in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Roan, Rachael Edwards, Rae Anne Payleitner and Rebecca Reinbold each delivered RBI hits for the Saints.
Reinbold supplied an RBI double as East attempted a two-out rally in the seventh but Engel fanned Payleitner to secure the rivalry win for the hosts.
“We were really excited,” Seering said. “We’re definitely proud of ourselves for coming through with this big win.”
Natalie Capone and Seering joined Taylor Russell with multi-hit days for the North Stars.