Softball: Rotondo's walk-off HR lifts Bartlett over South Elgin

After an improbable South Elgin rally to tie, it only took Taylor Rotondo one swing to win it for Bartlett.

Rotondo's walk-off home run to right field gave the Hawks a 5-4 victory in Upstate Eight Valley softball action in Bartlett Monday.

Rotondo's heroics became necessary after South Elgin tied the game in the top of the seventh. The Storm, which had only 2 hits in the first six innings, singled 4 straight times with 2 outs in the sixth.

Sami Koss's slow chopper somehow found its way into right field. Then Sam Dietz squirted one toward third base that seemed destined for foul territory. But the ball instead rolled dead on the chalk line. Solid singles by eighth and ninth hitters Sidney Strama and Kaylie Humes brought in the tying runs.

But then Rotondo, leading off the seventh, drove an 0-2 pitch from Sophia Salazar barely over the right-field fence to give the Hawks the win.

"I just was up there, I had two strikes, I was just looking for anything to hit," Rotondo said. "Because that pitcher, she was throwing outside. She was mixing it up; she's very good."

"If it's not a drama-filled game, it's not Bartlett-South Elgin anything," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "We knew it wasn't going to be easy. I told my girls that the last out's always the hardest one to get in a game like this against a good team."

Bartlett (6-5, 2-3) took the lead with 3 runs in the fifth. Charlotte Linnartz, Annamarie Bucaro and Amber Pagan singled with 1 out. Pagan's hit drove in Linnartz, and the remaining two runners scored when Janelle Ulaszek's grounder past first base was mishandled.

The Storm had just 2 hits in the first 6 innings, but they were both solid. A triple by Casey Brennan and a double by Julianna Battaglia led to the Storm's first 2 runs.

"Never a dull moment against Bartlett," said South Elgin coach Brad Reynard. "We just weren't us today, but, yeah, it was a great rally, a great comeback. I thought our pitchers did a decent job."

Strama started in the circle for the Storm (6-6, 5-1), with Salazar taking over in the fifth.

Ulaszewski started for Bartlett. Pagan picked up the win in relief.

Linnartz finished with 3 hits for Bartlett, while Bucaro and Pagan had 2 apiece.