Softball: St. Charles North’s small ball leads to walk-off win over Oswego in 4A semifinal

PEORIA — Skyla Ritter isn’t used to touching home plate for St. Charles North.

But when the ball sailed past Oswego’s third baseman and gave her the chance to advance the North Stars to the Class 4A state title game, she knew what she needed to do.

Even if it made her a little tired.

“I knew I had to get on my horse and run as fast as I can,” Skyla Ritter said. “The trainer came over with some water in case I needed it, and I definitely did.”

Skyla Ritter scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to help the North Stars to a 2-1 walk-off victory over Oswego in the Class 4A state semifinals at Louisville Sluggers Sports Complex.

With the win, St. Charles North (25-6) will go to the state title game, where it will face off against Marist (36-3), which is making its fourth straight appearance in the championship. The two teams met in 2022, which ended with the North Stars winning 3-2 for their first state title in program history.

“We think the world of Marist,” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “It’s the state championship, so it’s going to be a challenge for everybody involved and I think we’re going to get to work and come up with a way to overcome one more time.”

The North Stars used small ball tactics in the final two innings to help get them the win. Of the final eight batters that came to the plate, four of them laid down sacrifice bunts.

“We knew that with (Oswego pitcher Jaelynn Anthony) being so good, we needed to either start the game that way or end it that way,” Poulin said. “Nobody really has continued success throughout a game against her. We didn’t square anything up to start the game, so we knew we had to go to the bunts and make them make plays.”

After hitting a single to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning with the score tied at 1-1, Ritter went back to the dugout like she usually does while a courtesy runner came in to take her spot.

But during an extended break of play, Poulin made the call to put her back on the base paths.

“I was in the dugout with my gear off, drinking some water, and then I thought ‘Oh gosh,’” Skyla Ritter said.

Addy Umlauf advanced her to second with a bunt down the third base line. One batter later, Anna Lamb laid down the bunt that led to Ritter scoring the go-ahead run.

“I loved that she just popped up right on that overthrow,” Poulin said. “The throw didn’t end up too far away. I told her to go, and she popped up immediately and went with no hesitation, and I’m really proud of that awareness.”

The North Stars utilized a similar tactic the inning before to draw first blood in the game. This time, it was Ginger Ritter who made the difference after drawing a leadoff walk to start the sixth inning.

“It was unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever been that excited,” Ginger Ritter said. “I was just screaming ‘let’s go’ because I knew that was the biggest thing I could do for the team. We needed to get a runner on and then the rest would fall through and we were going to score.”

After two straight bunts from Maddy Hernandez and Ella Heimbuch put Ritter on third, Mack Patterson drove her home on a 3-2 pitch with a single that bounced over the third baseman’s head to give North a 1-0 lead.

“I just wanted to compete with every single pitch and stay in the moment,” Patterson said. “It just felt like a meant-to-be moment. It’s hard to explain, but it felt amazing.”

The North Stars were one strike away from winning the game in the top of the seventh, but Natalie Muellner decided that it wasn’t time for the game to end for Oswego.

On a 3-2 pitch, the junior hit a towering ball over the left-center field wall to tie the game at 1-1.

“She’s hit really well for us all season, especially at the end of the season,” Oswego coach Paul Netzel said. “She’s showed that she deserves to be in the lineup, and she did a great job in that at-bat.”

For their first state tournament game in program history, Netzel said that the game went pretty much as he expected with good pitching and the game coming down to whoever got the lucky bounce.

The Panthers (28-10) will play in the third-place game against Mundelein (36-2), which lost to Marist 7-1 earlier in the day.

“We just need to swing the bats and outscore them,” Netzel said. “As long as we pitch well again, we’ve got to do what we’ve got to do offensively.”