Softball: St. Charles East freshman Arrambide blanks Burlington

St. Charles East softball coach Jarod Gutesha summed up his team's 1-0 win over Burlington Central pretty succinctly.

"It was the Katie show," Gutesha said.

That would be freshman pitcher Katie Arrambide, who struck out 12, walked two and allowed just two hits in a complete-game shutout Monday.

And that's just the half of it.

Locked in a scoreless game against Rockets senior Julia Barnes, Arrambide also plated the only run of the game with a line double down the left-field line with two outs in the bottom of the fourth.

After losing her first decision 5-2 to Barrington, Arrambide has won her last two starts as she's starting to make the transition to varsity softball look easy.

"Being a freshman she was nervous and wasn't as in command as she was today," Gutesha said of her first start. "Today she worked ahead way more than the first two outings. That was key for her, being ahead early and being in control and then she can mix all sorts of pitches. It's not one pitch she's counting on."

One of three freshmen in Monday's lineup with left fielder Elliott Sanders and shortstop Kati Gheorghe, Arrambide is excited about her fast start for St. Charles East (3-1).

"The upperclassmen, even the sophomores and other freshmen are so supportive every time I am on the mound saying something encouraging," said Arrambide, whose team also has a fourth freshman Madelyn Rouse who won Friday at Schaumburg. "They can tell when I'm rattled and know how to calm me down."

Burlington Central (2-2) started a young lineup of its own with four sophomores. Arrambide used her screwball and changeup to keep the Rockets off balance.

Arrambide didn't allow a hit until the fifth, which also turned out to be the Rockets' best chance to score. A two-out error kept the inning alive, then Reilli Gardner - who also made a nice catch in center field to strand three Saints in the first inning - singled up the middle to put runners at the corners.

Hanaa Nkhikhssi walked to load the bases before Arrambide fanned Barnes to end the threat.

Arrambide capped her day by striking out the side in the seventh.

"I told them we have to be a little more aggressive on the first pitch strikes because I think a lot of them were putting themselves in a tough situation against a good pitcher," said Erica Snyder in her first game back as Rockets coach from maternity leave.

The only run of the game came in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Wooten reached on an infield single and Maddy Stout laid down a sacrifice bunt before Arrambide delivered her run-scoring double.

"The at-bat before I popped it up and I didn't think I was staying on top of it so the second time up I was just looking to hit the top half and make sure it didn't go in the air," Arrambide said. "When I saw the pitch I got on Friday when I got a triple, I saw that same pitch and I just took it the same way."

Barnes pitched the first four innings and Alisyn Catenacci the final two for the Rockets, who play Rosary on Wednesday, Rockford Auburn Thursday and Geneva on Saturday.

"I thought defensively we did a really good job and pitching too. So we've got that taken care of," Snyder said. "It's always good to play good teams like East over spring break to see what we need to work on and right now it's hitting."

Hannah Cozzi added 2 singles for the Saints, who played without senior Maddie Candre (quad).

"We're just trying to get comfortable as a team (at the plate) and figure out how to relax," Gutesha said. "It's early. They want to perform so much. Still good approaches, we've had good swings. Today they moved it around enough on us."

The Saints play Wheaton North Tuesday and East Moline on Saturday.