Confident North Stars ready for state softball semis

Updated: June 9, 2011 7:38PM

Whether facing New Trier slugger Chelsea Delaney or stepping up against a higher level of competition in pressure situations, it’s not foreign territory to St. Charles North’s softball team.

In Friday’s Class 4A state semifinals, the Stars (31-3) must come up with a way to cool Delaney’s bat much like they had to stop some power hitters in the sectional. They think their experience at sectional — as well as in the regular season-ending Stone City Jamboree — will make a world of difference when they take center stage at 7 tonight against New Trier (23-11) at EastSide Centre in East Peoria.

“I don’t think anything could have prepared us more than going against Lockport or Normal West before the state tourney,” said St. Charles North pitcher Amanda Ciran about the team’s two Stone City Jamboree games.

The Stars split, beating Lockport with Ciran pitching, 5-0, and losing 5-1 to Normal West when Ciran did not throw.

“Our conference isn’t as strong as it used to be,” Ciran said about the Upstate Eight. “That was a way to show there are better teams out there and this is the level you have to play at to beat those teams.

“We’ve been able to do it. We beat Elk Grove and we beat Leyden in sectionals. There’s no telling now what we can do at state because we’re all confident, so confident.”

Coach Tom Poulin isn’t quite as certain the UEC was weaker this year, but does believe he saw something different in his players by season’s end because of the higher level of competition they’ve faced.

“Playing people like Bartlett, Lake Park, and Naperville Central, then Geneva and Batavia with the rivalries, there’s pressure,” Poulin said. “The Lockport win showed us we could get there. That showed us what we could do if we wanted to do it. But then the Normal West loss right after that showed us how fragile the season is, especially when you get into the tournament.

“We’ve learned an awful lot right at the end of the season. I really think it prepped us for the tournament.”

They hope stopping Leyden’s Morgan Maize gave an indication how they’ll do against New Trier. Maize had 18 home runs and 77 RBI. Her counterpart with New Trier is Delaney, who has 26 more RBI (46), seven more home runs (10), and a batting average 41 points higher than any of her teammates. The Trevians offense revolves around their 6-foot, right-hand batting first baseman/catcher.

“Everyone I’ve spoken to says something very similar: that she’s very much like some of the big sticks we’ve seen during the season,” Poulin said. “We’ll have to pitch to her like we did with Katie Ryan (of Batavia) or Morgan Maize — change up speeds and alter pitch levels.”

New Trier has only three full-time starters who are seniors, and just five full-time players hitting .300 or better. The Stars have 10 players hitting .300 or better, including nine starters.

Pitching-wise, Brigit Ieuter is the staff leader with a 16-8 record and 1.91 ERA. She has fanned 202 in 157 1/3 innings. However, she puts a lot of runners on base compared with Ciran. Ieuter allowed 164 base runners while Ciran has given up 131 base runners in 170 1/3 innings.

New Trier has had some recent tournament success, but only a couple players were part of their fourth-place finish in 2008. The Stars would like to make history of their own in their first state trip.

“We want to get some respect for North,” said Ciran

Moline (26-8-1) vs. Benet (31-9)

Moline must be considered the favorite among the final four based on its supersectional performance, if not rankings.

The Maroons beat defending state champion Sandburg 10-5 after losing twice in March to that Orland Park school, 10-1 and 10-2. Sandburg had been the highest-ranked Illinois team in the USA Today national poll.

The Maroons hardly looked like a threat to be in the final four from their start, losing three straight at the outset, including the opener 6-4 to Sherrard. However, they later avenged that loss. Still, they hit other bumpy spots, including a stretch of five games between April 30 and May 7 when they went 1-3-1.

Moline played a schedule made up entirely of downstate teams except for Sandburg, but did lose 5-3 to a Normal Community West club that St. Charles North lost to 5-0 — but the Stars didn’t pitch Ciran in that defeat.

Moline ace Jordan Kasbohm (24-5, 1.37 ERA) limited a Sandburg batting order that included Wisconsin-bound Macy Oswald and Tennessee-Martin signee Lauren Smith, the state’s single-season (22) and career (45) home-run record-holder, to five hits.

Shortstop Brittney Drish (6 home runs) and third baseman-catcher Jordan de los Reyes (5 home runs) tied for the team lead in RBI and speedy center fielder Kaitlyn Knary led in hits (61), runs (41) and batting average (.480).

It’s a team with a rich tradition at state, having finished third last year, first in 2006 and second in 2000 and 2005 — all under current head coach Mark Gerlach, who has a 334-90-6 record.

Benet played a schedule with a handful of teams St. Charles North faced, including a season-opening, eight-inning win over Geneva, which split two games with the Stars. Benet lost to Neuqua Valley of the Upstate Eight, and got swept in back-to-back doubleheaders by Marist and Marian Catholic, in addition to losing to Naperville Central, Bishop McNamara and Mother McAuley.

Senior pitcher Allyson Staats has some impressive stats, owning a 1.37 ERA with 250 strikeouts in 250 2/3 innings to go with a 28-9 record.

A freshman and sophomore supplied most of the team’s offensive punch. Freshman third baseman Julianne Rurka hit .474 with a team-high 40 RBI to go with five home runs. Sophomore outfielder Maeve McGuire tied Rurka with a team-high five home runs and led the team with a .475 batting average.

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