Softball: Ava Goettel’s 12-strikeout gem leads unbeaten St. Charles North past Wheaton Warrenville South

WHEATON – Auburn Roberson characterizes teammate Ava Goettel as a “fighter.”

Goettel, a St. Charles North junior, continues to throw lights out for the North Stars in the circle, a big reason why they were unbeaten through five games.

“She works through hard counts and playing defense behind her is honestly so easy,” Roberson said after the North Stars’ 12-1 victory over Wheaton Warrenville South on April 14.

It was a team effort on all ends. Sophia Olman drove in three runs and scored three while Roberson had three RBIs to help pace the North Stars (5-0, 1-0 DuKane Conference).

[ Photos: St. Charles North vs. Wheaton Warrenville South softball ]

Goettel threw a complete game with 12 strikeouts and surrendered only five hits on a windy afternoon.

“She works the batters and she knows what her stuff is,” Roberson said. “She throws great stuff every day. Playing behind her is amazing to do, so I’m really glad [she’s had] such a great year.”

Goettel’s development has carried over from the North Stars’ supersectional run last season. Goettel was a big piece of the puzzle to make that happen.

“We saw how mentally strong she was in the tournament last year. … It took everybody, but she was so tough in the circle,” North Stars coach Tom Poulin said. “She’s been that way this year. After the Huntley game [the North Stars’ opener], we said, ‘You know what? We have one of the better pitchers around.’ She just keeps proving us right.

“She did a great job today. She hits her spots. She changes speeds. When people put it in play, it’s right at us on the ground and we’ve got people that can make plays behind her. I think it’s a great combination – our defensive abilities along with what she can do.”

St. Charles North put up seven runs in the first two innings and didn’t let up.

“Up and down the lineup, no matter what lineup we’ve used, we’ve produced pretty much,” Poulin said. “When the top [of the order] gets on for us, I think the chances are we’re going to be successful. We’ve got a few that are swinging hot bats right now and they’ve been focused in practice.

“We’ve had quality practices. We don’t go forever, but we go and we get our work done. We’ve got great leadership from our seniors and really throughout the lineup. Really, it’s great kids. They’re playing good softball right now. We were just talking about [how] we’re playing real well. We need to make sure we’re improving. We can’t be this team toward the end of the year, so it’s going to get real busy for us. We’ve had days off in between, so we’ll see more of what we’re made of as we go forward with the schedule.”

Wheaton Warrenville South (4-5, 0-1) had its lone run pushed across by Maddie Pool in the sixth inning.

“We’re young. We’ve been inconsistent. The amount of bases we gave up, we can’t do that,” Tigers coach Jeff Pawlak said. “Our infield [today was] absolutely uncharacteristic [for us]. That’s not what we normally do, but [Poulin’s] got a really good team. We didn’t play well. We’ve just got to put it behind us.”