Stillman’s home run boosts Stanwood to win over Arlington
Published 11:30 pm Thursday, March 26, 2009
ARLINGTON — If Corinne Stillman is this good coming off of an illness, imagine how tough she will be at full strength.
Stillman, a senior pitcher, made her first start of the season Thursday for the Stanwood High School softball team. She had been out because of flu-like symptoms.
Forced into action because Stanwood’s other main pitcher was unavailable, Stillman gutted out a huge effort on the mound and at the plate. She tossed three strikeouts in a complete-game, six-hitter and blasted a two-run home run in Stanwood’s 2-0 triumph over the Arlington Eagles in a Western Conference North Division game.
After throwing six shutout innings, Stillman batted in the top of the seventh with teammate Tori Kriegel, who hit a leadoff single, on first base. Following two strikes, Stillman smashed Arlington pitcher Christina Rayner’s third pitch over the left-field fence.
“It felt great,” said Stillman, whose first homer of the year came on a pitch in the lower-inside part of the zone. “I didn’t think it was a home run at first but it was a solid hit.”
“She has a nice, strong bat. Nice to have her back,” said Stanwood softball coach Cherlyn Schander, whose team is 4-0 this spring.
It was the Wesco North opener for Stanwood and Arlington, picked to finish first and second, respectively, in the division in The Herald’s preseason coaches’ poll. “It feels like a really big win,” said Stillman, whose gravelly voice indicated how sick she has been, “and hopefully we’ll carry it into (today’s) Lake Stevens game.”
Shortstop Jordan Nemo played stellar defense and drilled a double to the right-field fence in the sixth inning for Stanwood, which plays a makeup game today against Lake Stevens, ranked fifth in the coaches’ poll.
Arlington’s Rayner mostly overwhelmed Stanwood hitters. The North Dakota State University recruit finished with 14 strikeouts and allowed three hits through six innings.
Following Kriegel’s single in the seventh, Rayner battled Stillman for the third and final time. Stillman struck out and flew out earlier, but she generated a game-winning rocket in her final try. Rayner “just missed her spot and hung it up unfortunately, and (Stillman) turned on it,” Arlington coach Dan Eng said. “When you hit a ball that hard and it goes that fast over left field — she got it all.”
On the mound, Stillman worked out of tough spots in the fifth and six innings, when Arlington threatened to score but twice stranded two runners. The middle-infield duo of Nemo, a 2008 All-Wesco North first team pick, and fill-in second baseman Shawna Hochstetler, a freshman, repeatedly made routine and spectacular plays to stifle Arlington.
They helped Stillman throw a complete game even though she felt lethargic. “I just really had low energy today,” she said, “so I just tried to pull it out on the mound and just take one for the team.”
“She did awesome, especially knowing she’s been ill,” Schander said. “She really hasn’t gone full force so it was great to see her give it all.”
For Arlington, there are many positives: Rayner is a formidable pitcher, the Eagles played an error-free game and the team has great chemistry, coach Eng said. “We just need to offensively get those timely executions and hits, and then we’ll be fine from there,” he said.
Arlington can’t wait for April 28, when it is scheduled to have a rematch against Stanwood, at the Spartans’ ballpark. “They got us on our home field,” said Eng. “Now our job is to try to get them on their home field.”
At Arlington H.S.
Stanwood0000002—250
Arlington0000000—060
Stillman and Kriegel. Rayner and Herrington. WP-Stillman (1-0). LP-Rayner (2-2). 2B-Nemo (S). HR-Stillman (S). Records-Stanwood 1-0 in division, 4-0 overall. Arlington 0-1, 2-2.
Mike Cane: 425-339-3471, mcane@heraldnet.com. Check out the prep sports blog Double Team at cmg-northwest2.go-vip.net/heraldnet/doubleteam.
