Softball: Waslawski, St. Charles North rout Bartlett

Jillian Waslawski wears jersey No. 1 for the St. Charles North softball team.

She certainly lived up to that digit Tuesday afternoon.

As the North Stars' starting pitcher, the sophomore allowed just 3 hits in a 15-0 victory over host Bartlett, striking out 6 and stranding 6 baserunners.

At the plate, she went 3-for-4 with a pair of singles and a 2-run homer, along with 3 runs batted in.

True, she didn't defeat the Hawks single-handedly. Catcher Sam Hausl also went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI and 3 runs scored, while Ashlyn Jozefowicz and Amanda James both doubled twice and scored twice. Alyssa Eby singled twice and scored 3 runs.

But when all was said and done, it was Waslawski who left the crowd buzzing and North coach Tom Poulin smiling.

"I thought Jill was dominant," said Poulin, whose team improved to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in the Upstate Eight. "She was hitting her spots and she was moving the ball pretty well."

For Waslawski, who improved her pitching record to 4-0 this young season, it was all in a day's work.

"Overall, I just felt good in the circle," she said. "I knew Bartlett was going to be a tough game - they're a really good team. Our team just had a lot of good energy on the field, and the pitching was just working."

The North Stars raced to a 5-0 lead in the second inning off Bartlett starting and losing pitcher Danielle Kirby, capitalizing on a hit-batsman, a consecutive pair of Bartlett errors and Jozefowicz's first double. Waslawski added a run-scoring single to plate another run in the third.

But it was the fourth inning where she and her mates did the most damage. With 1 out, the North Stars strung together four straight hits that drove Kirby from the game, replaced by sophomore Amber Pagan.

Hausl greeted Pagan with a double down the third base line that plated Ali Moberg and Eby. And after Allison Hausl grounded to second, Waslawski stepped to the plate and lifted a 1-1 Pagan offering over the left-center field fence to increase the lead to 12-0. North never looked back.

It wasn't the most stellar of outings Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith has seen, with more errors (4) than hits, but it was a teachable moment.

"Every game you learn something from, and one of those things you learn is how do you handle adversity?" he said. "We really haven't had adversity this season. We have to be prepared to play at a higher level than we played today."

Senior Katie Fornoff went 1-for-3 with a double for Bartlett, which fell to 6-4 and 2-1 in the Upstate Eight.