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Glenbard North forces St. Charles E. mistakes
By Adam Bartolo
Daily Herald Correspondent
Posted Friday, March 25, 2005
On its opening day St. Charles East knew it would face a tough test against Glenbard North, which won last year’s St. Charles East sectional.
The test turned out to be even tougher than the Saints softball team anticipated as they fell to the Panthers 10-1.
“Glenbard North came out and they beat us fair and square,” said Saints first-year coach Eric Ray. “I can’t blame it on first-game nerves or jitters. They played better than we did.”
Although the Panthers (2-0) didn’t get many hits, they used their patience at the plate to draw walks and they used their aggression on the bases to cash in whenever they had chances to score.
“Our philosophy is to be aggressive with our girls,” said Glenbard North coach Jim McKinney. “We try to force the issue and make the other team do things they normally don’t do. And today it worked.”
That aggressive philosophy was evident in the Panthers’ first run. Leadoff hitter Annie Dolan led off the game with a double to center field. She advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a passed ball.
Dolan ignited the Panthers offense. She went 4-for-4, with 2 doubles, 2 singles and 3 runs.
“It’s great to have a player like her on our team, especially for the last four years,” McKinney said.
All-state player Michelle Batts showed off her power, drilling a solo home run over the right-field fence in the fourth inning.
Saints pitcher Michelle Snyder battled cold weather and a powerful Panthers lineup. She wound up throwing 112 pitches over four innings.
Debra Mercadante relieved Snyder in the fifth and threw two shutout innings.
When the Saints (0-1) stepped into the batter’s box, they struggled to hit Jenna Szybowicz’s fastballs. In three innings she walked two and struck out two. She gave up a first-inning single to Angela Mercadante, and it was the only ball she threw that the Saints hit out of the infield.
St. Charles East manufactured its lone run in the fourth inning. Rebekah Ruettiger led off with a double to left-center field and scored on a double by Julie Yonkus.
Despite the outcome the Saints expect to improve as they season goes on.
“We’ve got hitters from our No. 1 player to the 14th player,” Ray said.
The players echo their coach’s optimism.
“We know what we have to work on,” Ruettiger said. “I’m not worried. We still have 35 games to go.”
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