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SC North’s Ciran dominates Elgin High
Updated: May 10, 2011 10:26PM
Amanda Ciran baffled the Elgin High softball team on Tuesday afternoon, going all seven innings for St. Charles North and giving up no earned runs in a 9-1 North Stars victory.
North (19-2, 13-1 Upstate Eight River) gave Ciran all the offense she would need in the bottom of the first inning with three runs. The North Stars added another run in the second before putting up five in the fifth.
The early offense — which Ciran (13-1) contributed to with an RBI single in the first — allowed the North hurler to relax and use the start as a way to work on her mechanics.
“Those early runs are what I hope for every game,” said Ciran, who struck out 10. “Get an early lead, then I can play around with other pitches, see what’s working and what isn’t. Then if I give up a run it’s OK, because we have a couple insurance runs.”
Ciran changed speed and location to perfection, striking out nine Maroons, while walking none. From Elgin coach Chad Dahlman’s perspective, Ciran’s changeup was the main reason for her dominant performance.
“That changeup is deadly,” Dahlman said. “If she can spot that changeup and throw it for a strike, it’s a really good pitch.”
Allowing Ciran to relax in the circle was her team’s offensive production that resulted from the porous defense of Elgin (16-13, 5-9). The Maroons accumulated four errors on the day, making it particularly rough for starting pitcher Jennah Perryman.
In her six innings, Perryman allowed nine runs, but only five were earned.
“I thought Jennah pitched well,” Dahlman said. “They didn’t hit the ball around the park, they mostly kept it in the infield. But we just couldn’t make the plays. Not going to win many games playing like that.”
The Elgin struggles started when North’s Ally Capone led the game off with a bunt single. After stealing second and reaching third on a groundout, Capone scored on a wild pitch. Ciran knocked in the second run with a single before Annie Korth scored the third run of the inning on an error by Elgin third baseman Anna Eckholm.
North put the game out of reach with five runs in the fourth. The North Stars batted around, taking advantage of two Elgin errors in the inning. Taylor Russell had the biggest hit of the inning, knocking in two runs with a double. Russell would later score on an error from Elgin left fielder Hannah Perryman.
“We were focused, had quality at-bats and the girls came through with some two-out RBIs,” said North coach Tom Poulin. “Elgin is a good team; they battled us the first time we played them. We just need to sit back and realize what Amanda did for us today, because we sometimes we take her for granted.”
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