Bartlett's Kirby throws 1-hitter at Glenbard West
Bartlett junior cleanup hitter Alyssa Nowak nearly forgot about her 2014 home run against Glenbard West before the teams played again in the Class 4A softball regional semifinals Thursday.
"I didn't realize it until last night, but I tried not to think about that when I came up and just tried to put it in play," Nowak said.
At this meeting in the Glenbard West regional, Nowak and the Hawks did even better.
Nowak hit 2 home runs in her first two at-bats and went 4-for-4 with 6 runs batted in and 3 runs scored.
Junior pitcher Danielle Kirby, meanwhile, threw a 1-hitter with 6 strikeouts and no walks and the Hawks won 10-0 in six innings in Glen Ellyn.
Bartlett (21-10-1), the No. 7 seed in the Rolling Meadows sectional, faces No. 2 St. Charles North (26-5) at 11 a.m. Saturday for the regional title. The Hawks won their April 15 meeting 9-6 in nine innings.
As it turned out Kirby (15-8) came within one batter of a perfect game against the No. 12 Hilltoppers (12-19).
With two outs in the sixth, No. 9 hitter Lexi Gregule, a freshman promoted in midseason, poked a single to right and beat the throw to first.
In the bottom of the inning, Bartlett scored twice to end the game by the 10-run rule.
"Yeah, it was a blooper. It was fine, though. We played a good game," Kirby said. "I tried not to think about (the perfect game) and not let it mess me up, but I always let it get to my head."
Nowak's second 2-homer game gave her 7 for the season. In the 2014 regional semifinal, Nowak had a 2-run homer in Bartlett's 7-0 victory.
This time Nowak opened the scoring in the first with a 3-run homer to left-center field on a 2-and-2 count.
In the third Nowak deposited the first pitch to nearly the same spot for a 2-run blast and 5-0 advantage.
"I was trying to make hard contact and make them make plays and get it in play," Nowak said. "I knew I may not get a good pitch (the second at-bat) so I tried to swing at the first one I got and that was it."
"(Nowak) was dialed in today," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "We have a lot of good hitters and she's one of them."
Kirby was stunned to hear afterward that she threw just 58 pitches (47 strikes) - the lowest total pitching coach Robert Call remembered over 10 seasons.
Nowak, playing right field, caught three of the four outfield flies. Nina Pavell was near the fence in left-center for No. 3 hitter Shelley Warmolts' fly to end the fourth.
"The best performance (by Kirby) all year," Wolfsmith said. "She was moving it. Again, that's a good hitting team. To be able to do that is phenomenal."
This also was the fifth time in the last six games that Bartlett has scored in double digits. This came against Caylin Potter, who had 10 of the Hilltoppers' pitching victories.
"It's kind of been the story of our season all year, that inconsistency," Glenbard West coach Mary McGrane said. "We didn't have quality at-bats, which hurt us. Not to take anything away from them. They beat us, but it wasn't our greatest effort."
The Hawks' Katie Fornoff led off the first with a triple and had a 2-run single. Fornoff, No. 2 hitter Lauren Janczak, hit by a pitch three times, and Pavell scored twice and Susan Miceli added an RBI single.
"I thought we did a really good job against a really tough pitcher (Potter)," Wolfsmith said. "I thought our kids were really patient and forced her to come into the zone where we felt we could hit her. They hit a lot of two-strike pitches, too, which is really hard when you're going up against a good pitcher."
The Hilltoppers graduate just three starters but important ones in Potter, catcher Warmolts and shortstop Rachel Terwilliger - also their only returning starters from 2014.
Warmolts (Denison) and Terwilliger (Grand Valley State) will continue playing in college. Potter (Tennessee-Martin) plans to become a veterinarian.
"I told them what they were able to do for us this year they are never going to reap the benefits," McGrane said. "Raising (the younger girls') intensity, their level of play, I'll benefit next year."