Bartlett powers past Larkin
Bartlett freshman Holly Pagan wasn’t aware she was going to be pitching for the Hawks’ varsity softball team against Larkin until Wednesday morning.
No worries.
Backed by a 16-hit attack that included 3 home runs, Pagan scattered 9 hits and Bartlett played errorless defense in beating the Royals 14-2 in an Upstate Eight Conference game on Elgin’s west side.
Pagan admitted to having some nerves during her first varsity start, but agreed the Hawks’ booming bats helped put her at ease.
“I pretty much just tried to work through it the whole game,” she said. “We did really good hitting today and that helped back me up. I didn’t really see (the varsity start) coming, so I had to be more mentally focused.”
With the Hawks (6-7, 3-2) heading into the Wendy’s Spring Classic this weekend in Ashland, Ohio, coach Jim Wolfsmith thought it wise to get Pagan some game action as she’ll be traveling with the team to Ohio.
“We’re a little banged up,” Wolfsmith said. “Alicia (Salata) threw 120 pitches (Tuesday) and Tori Burke and Amanda Montbriand, our other two pitchers, are nursing little injuries. It made sense to bring Holly up today since she’s going to Ohio with us. You can see how talented she is. She has a very cool, calm and collected demeanor that reminds me a lot of (former Bartlett star) Lauren Wydra. Holly has a long way to go, but her demeanor just doesn’t change when the pressure’s on.”
The Hawks scored early and often off Larkin senior Megan Johnson, who got little support from a defense that committed 8 errors in the game.
Bartlett scored twice in the first inning, Cassie Hernandez coming home on an error after drawing a walk and Jacki Gulczynski scoring on a sacrifice fly by Lisa Matsie after Gulczynski, who was 4-for-4, had singled.
A Gulczynski double and an RBI single from Nicole Beck (3-for-4) made it 3-0 in the third and Beck came home to make it 4-0 on an error.
The Hawks added two more in the fourth when Beck jacked a 2-run shot over the center field fence, then another in the fifth on an RBI double from Cara Carrion to make it 7-0.
Larkin (6-8, 1-3) finally got to Pagan for 2 runs in the bottom of the fifth. Corinne Wimmer singled and took second without a play, Lexi Smithberg (2-for-3) walked. Wimmer later stole third and scored on a wild pitch and Smithberg was doubled in by Johnson (2-for-3).
Bartlett then added 6 runs in the top of seventh, aided by three more Larkin errors. Kaylyn Zierke led off with a home run, Hernandez had an RBI double, Beck an RBI double and Matsie and Brittany Idler RBI singles in the inning.
“It was nice to get our bats going, especially going into Ohio,” said Gulczynski, who hit her second round-tripper of the season. “Holly did a great job on the mound for her first varsity game. She came in with a lot of confidence and gave us a lot of strikes.”
Idler and Zierke had 2 hits for the Hawks, as did Carrion, who added a second double. Pagan struck out four and walked three in the complete-game effort.
“We talked about hitting more as a team,” said Wolfsmith, whose team plays Boardman High of Ohio, a Division I district and sectional champ last year, in its first game Friday in Ashland.
“We juggled the lineup some today and they made me look really smart. Hopefully we can carry this into Ohio.”
Johnson struck out three and walked three for the Royals.
“When you have 5-6 errors in the outfield you’re not going to beat anybody,” said Larkin coach Larry Hight. “We couldn’t stop groundballs and we couldn’t catch pop-ups. They hit us and we only scored two runs. I’m surprised it went seven. Every team has a game like this and this was ours.”