Bulgart buckles down, gives Mundelein a lift
Why watch hit TV shows when you can hit? Or at least whack a teed-up ball into a net in your basement?
That's what Hannah Bulgart wondered.
A Mundelein senior, she underwent labrum surgery in November of 2013. She didn't participate in a game her junior year until midway through the season and didn't play in the field until the start of the state tournament.
As she's shown all this season and particularly Saturday, when she went 4-for-4 with 2 home runs and 4 RBI in an 11-6 win over visiting Palatine in a nonconference game, her industrious attitude has paid off.
"It feels great after last season," said Bulgart, who started in the outfield as a sophomore. "That was probably the most difficult experience of my life, just watching and not being able to do anything. I promised myself every time I was sitting on the bench that if I had free time to hit, I'd hit and hit, so I could get better and perform for senior year."
Bulgart, who plans to play softball at Augustana, is up to 6 homers on the season. The Mustangs are up to 20 wins after knocking off Palatine (8-13) on their Mundelein Baseball and Softball Association day.
"It's been I long time - that I can remember - that we won 20 games this quickly," said coach Brett Wilhelm, whose 20-4 Mustangs host defending Class 4A state champ Warren on Monday. "There are things in every game that we think we can do better, but at the same time it's hard to get down on them when we're putting up runs the way we are."
RBI singles by Bulgart and Amanda Diaz (3-for-4) and a run-scoring groundout by Maggie Mahar had Mundelein up 3-0 after one inning. Karlee Busscher and Maria DeVito delivered RBI singles in the second, before Bulgart pulled a long home run, with DeVito aboard, down the left-field line.
When Bulgart came to bat again leading off the fifth, her homer to left-center padded the Mustangs' lead to 8-6.
"When I was in warm-ups, my swing just felt good," said Bulgart, who lined a single in her final at-bat in the sixth. "I was like, 'It's going to be a good day.' "
Most days have been good for Bulgart this season.
"She goes up there with a phenomenal approach," Wilhelm said of his cleanup hitter. "She knows what she's doing. She rarely looks overmatched against good pitching. It's going to be hard to see her leave. She's doing a great job for us, and she's a great leader. Great senior."
Palatine trailed 7-1 after two innings but scored twice in the third and was at it again offensively in the fourth. The Pirates had already scored twice to pull within 7-6 and had the bases loaded with one out. Erin Davis then hit a liner to a drawn-in Busscher at third. Busscher made the catch, retreated and stepped on third for an unassisted, rally-killing double play.
"I feel like that's been our thing all season," Palatine coach Nicole Pauly said. "Our bats keep us in the games. It's just one or two innings where we check out. We make some mistakes, and we can't bounce back from it."
Mundelein starting pitching Nicole Parney settled in after Palatine's 3-run fourth, finishing the game with 3 scoreless innings (1 hit allowed).
"They were getting some hits (in the fourth inning), but I had to help my team out," Parney said. "I told myself that I can't let it get to me. I just walked in after that one inning and said I can't let my team down."
Ellie Kozlowski pitched well in relief of Davis, who started and threw 4-plus innings. Kozlowski inherited a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the fifth and got back-to-back popouts before a fielder's choice and throwing error kept the inning alive.
Kozlowski threw a scoreless sixth.
"She did a great job," Pauly said. "She fills whatever spot we need. She's definitely a senior that stepped up."
Kozlowski, who started the game at designated player, also doubled. Emily Griffin and Kenzie Craver had RBI doubles for the Pirates. Craver, Nora Walsh and Victoria Parrott (RBI) were all 2-for-3.