Storm edge Saints, draw closer in UEC softball race

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ST. CHARLES – Everybody knows Kimberly Pierce can hit. Turns out the South Elgin slugger can throw a little bit, too.

Pierce belted a two-run home run in the first inning to give the Storm  an early lead against St. Charles East on Saturday, then threw out a runner at the plate from center field to help preserve a 5-4 victory, further tightening a convoluted Upstate Eight Conference race.

Pierce, who is hitting over .620 for the season, took East starter Katie Stengler out of the park to right field, despite a blustery wind blowing almost straight in to home plate.

“I don’t think about it,” Pierce said of the wind. “If it’s hit hard enough, it’ll go… It seemed like the wind stopped right when I hit the ball.”

With the Storm (14-8, 8-3 UEC) protecting a 4-3 lead and no one out in the third inning, Pierce threw a perfect strike to the plate to gun down Jenny Niemiec, who was trying to score from second on Steph Roan’s base hit.

“That felt good, too,” Pierce said. “[Catcher] Rae [Bosteder] made a good play tagging her.”

Bosteder held on to the ball as she collided with a hard-sliding Niemiec. Roan went to second on the throw and later scored on an infield single by Kayla Brooks, but the Saints (17-6-1, 10-2) missed out on a potentially big inning. Roan was 3-for-3 at the plate and was on base four times.

“She’s got a cannon,” South Elgin coach Jason Schaal said of Pierce. “Rae makes a great tag. That’s a huge momentum swing for us.”

East coach Kelly Barnett defended her decision to send Niemiec home.

“It was a close play,” she said. “It could have gone either way, I thought… You’ve got to put the pressure on them.”

Courtney Bosteder broke the tie in the fifth with a double to the gap in right-center that scored Brittany Boelter. After that, South Elgin starter Cary Thereon (7-4) survived a trio of two-out rally attempts by the Saints, stranding five runners on base in the final three innings. She gave up a dozen hits in the game, but walked only one batter while striking out three.

“The hits are going to happen,” Thereon said. “That’s why we have the defense. They’re playing awesome.”

The defense was not awesome in the first inning, however, as a pair of errors contributed to East taking a 3-2 lead. Rebecca Reinbold lined a single past first to score a pair of runs in the inning. She eventually scored on Kayla Brooks’ two-out single.

The Storm bounced right back with two runs on one hit in the second. Boelter’s RBI groundout to second scored Kiersa Parillo, who led off the frame with a single. Katelyn Stonecipher scored the go-ahead run from third when catcher RaeAnne Payleitner threw the ball into center field as Pierce tried to steal second.

Gaby Moe, who relieved Stengler in the inning, was the tough-luck loser for East. She gave up just one run on three hits and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings.

“Our pitching needs to be better,” Barnett said. “They came out flat today, both of them. But that’s something you deal with and you work through it. I tell you what, they’ll be throwing some BBs next week, no doubt.”