Softball Preview: St. Charles East Fighting Saints vs. St. Charles North North Stars
St. Charles East is 8-2 against St. Charles North since April of 2019, and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Wednesday. The St. Charles East Fighting Saints will head out on the road to take on the St. Charles North North Stars at 4:30 p.m. Both teams come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Having struggled with six defeats in a row, St. Charles East finally turned things around against Lake Park on Monday. St. Charles East walked away with a 3-0 win over Lake Park.
The result came thanks to Grace Hautzinger's shutout, as she gave up just two hits and racked up ten Ks. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in 15 consecutive pitching appearances.
At the plate, St. Charles East's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Addison Wolf, who scored a run and stole two bases while going 1-for-2.
Meanwhile, St. Charles North waltzed into their match on Monday with five straight wins... but they left with six. Everything went their way against the Tigers as they made off with an 8-2 win. St. Charles North might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team's won nine matchups by six runs or more this season.
Paige Murray spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned runs on seven hits.
On the hitting side, Ginger Ritter and Skyla Ritter did most of the damage at the plate: Ritter scored a run and stole a base while going 2-for-2, while Ritter scored a run while going 2-for-3. The team also got some help courtesy of Maddie Hernandez, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
St. Charles East's victory bumped their record up to 15-11. As for St. Charles North, their win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 16-3.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. St. Charles East has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 9.4 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like St. Charles North struggles in that department as they've been averaging 9.1. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
St. Charles East came out on top in a nail-biter against St. Charles North in their previous meeting back in April, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for St. Charles East since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
