Girls softball: St. Charles North stymies Bartlett
With just four games under its belt, St. Charles North certainly isn't in midseason form.
Yet the North Stars still look good already, flashing their pitching depth Tuesday in winning their fourth straight game to start the season, 2-1 over Bartlett.
St. Charles North (4-0, 1-0) had not played a game until last Friday when it opened the season with a win over Wheaton Warrenville South. The North Stars swept a doubleheader from New Trier on Saturday and rode four shutout relief innings from Natalie Walters to defeat Bartlett (8-5-1, 1-2) on Tuesday.
"We're just getting started and we're real excited about this group," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "The depth in the circle is going to be huge for us. We have three No. 1s."
Jillian Waslawski started, and the Hawks got to her for their only run in the first. Caitlin Fippinger singled and took third on Taylor Rotondo's double off the center field fence.
Amber Pagan singled in Fippinger, but the Hawks ran into an out on the bases on the play, and they never scored again.
Bartlett stranded two runners in both the second and third innings against Waslawski, then Poulin turned to Walters who allowed just one infield hit while striking out five over her four innings.
"She came in and shut them down," Poulin said. "Bartlett is always going to hit the ball hard. I thought pitching and defense carried us today."
"I pretty much stuck to drops inside or outside and when I got ahead go for a rise or changeup," Walters said.
Trailing 2-1 in the seventh, the Hawks put runners at second and third with 2 outs for Rotondo, who Walters retired on a grounder to third.
"I was a little nervous," Walters said. "I just knew I had to take it one pitch at a time, get the strikes. I usually do well in high pressure situations."
Maddie Webb, the North Stars' third No. 1 who 1-hit New Trier on Saturday, and Jordyn Wolfe each had 2 hits to lead St. Charles North's attack against Bartlett starter Janelle Ulaszek.
Both North Star runs came in the third. Webb singled leading off. Wolfe tied the game with a double down the right field line, then Ashlyn Jozefowicz drove in Wolfe with the winning run with a single up the middle.
"It was a great softball game," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith, whose team is missing their top hitter Elyse Hickey out for at least another week with a knee injury suffered during the Hawks' Tennessee trip.
"Both teams pitched real well. They took advantage of their one inning. We had chances with runners on and weren't able to knock them in. That was good softball."