Better late than never?
Apparently.
Maddie Hernandez and her St. Charles North friends felt they were ready for the 2024 softball season, but with no games scheduled the week of spring break and a string of weather-related postponements before and after that, the North Stars had to wait 25 days to prove it.
They’re ready to make up for lost time. And not surprisingly, Hernandez is poised to lead the way.
“Maddie’s someone, anywhere you put her, she’s gonna have quality at bats,” St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. “She’s going to make the pitcher work. She’s going to put the ball in play hard. She knows what she’s doing out there.”
A senior second baseman who can also handle third base and being the designated player, Hernandez proved it again Monday with a solo home run and a single during a 13-0 nonconference win at West Aurora.
The North Stars (2-0) opened the season two days earlier at Bartlett with a 5-3 victory, which included an RBI double by Hernandez. The Wisconsin-Stevens Point recruit has a habit of coming up big.
As a sophomore two years ago, Hernandez delivered the winning hit in the Class 4A state championship game against Marist in Peoria. Last season, she hit four home runs.
“She batted third on Saturday and fifth (Monday),” Poulin said. “We’re going to move people around and just look at different combinations.”
St. Charles North’s Maddie Hernandez (2) connects for a hit against West Aurora during a nonconference game in Aurora on Monday, April, 8, 2024. (H. Rick Bamman / The Beacon News)
The North Stars are now scheduled to play six games in eight days.
“We definitely got a late start on things, but I don’t think that stopped us at all,” Hernandez said. “We’re ready. We were practicing as much as anybody else. We’re definitely ready.”
Paige Murray (2-0) struck out six for the win, allowing four hits and a walk in five innings. Fellow junior Lauren Seyller made her debut, closing out the shutout with two scoreless innings.
Four batters after Hernandez, senior outfielder Haley Nelson added a solo home run in a three-run third inning that boosted the North Stars’ lead to 7-0.
West Aurora (2-2) had a trio of pitchers issue 11 walks.
“We know they’re a good hitting team,” Blackhawks coach Randy Hayslett said. “We’re trying to build up some depth with our pitching. We have to play better defense behind them, but we have to make batters earn their way on base.”
St. Charles North’s Maddie Hernandez (2) scoops up a grounder for an out at first against West Aurora during a nonconference game in Aurora on Monday, April, 8, 2024. (H. Rick Bamman / The Beacon News)
Addy Umlauf, a junior, earned it for St. Charles North in her varsity debut. Poulin replaced Hernandez in the sixth with Umlauf.
Umlauf made it one to remember, drawing a walk and then hitting a grand slam in the top of the seventh. She also snared a line drive in the bottom of the inning, doubling up a runner at first.
“Three home runs in the game,” Hernandez said. “We definitely turned on some pitches, for sure.”
Umlauf marveled at the reception she has received.
“To be surrounded by such amazing girls is great,” she said. “They’re all supporting me, even though we’re competing with each other all the time.
“We got after it. We were probably one of the only teams in Illinois that hadn’t played yet. We’ve been working, though, getting ready to go 1-0 all the time.”
St. Charles North’s Maddie Hernandez (2) reacts to a strikeout by Paige Murray (15) against West Aurora during a nonconference game in Aurora on Monday, April, 8, 2024. (H. Rick Bamman / The Beacon News)
And the praise for Hernandez continued.
“Maddie has been helping me a lot,” Umlauf said. “There’s a difference coming from JV to varsity. It gets harder, but she is so fun to watch, she really is.”
“There were some times last year we had Maddie hitting cleanup,” Poulin said.
It’s likely to happen again.
“These girls have been champing at the bit, waiting to get some games in,” Poulin said. “We want to get to know each other. We have three freshmen up, too. I really think this is a special group.
“This is just the beginning of the process.”
