Softball: South Elgin battles back to beat Bartlett

South Elgin refused to sink.

Playing most of the game without three seniors who were on a class boat trip, the Storm came from behind twice to edge Bartlett, 8-7, in the continuation of a suspended Upstate Eight Valley softball matchup in South Elgin Friday.

The Storm's No. 1 and 2 hitters, Casey Brennan and Geneva Pollman, combined for 4 hits and scored 4 times. Winning pitcher Sidney Strama had 2 hits, as did Sami Koss.

Trailing 7-6, the Storm took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth. Brennan and Pollman led off with singles. Brennan scored on McKenna Eichholz's sacrifice fly, and Pollman came in on a wild pitch.

The game resumed in the bottom of the second. South Elgin started with just 9 players in uniform, as the bus returning the seniors from the boat trip got stuck in rush-hour traffic.

The missing mariners eventually returned and two finished out the game, but the underclassmen did their part in their absence.

"These kids are so resilient," said South Elgin coach Brad Reynard. "You couldn't even write the ending to this. These kids battle. One through 14, all these kids battle. I couldn't be more proud of them."

The Hawks had taken the lead with 4 in the top of the fifth. Janelle Ulaszek and Gianna Campo had run-scoring hits in the inning.

South Elgin (14-10, 11-3), moved 2 games ahead of Bartlett in the conference race.

Even though Bartlett started the day with a 1-0 lead, the Hawks couldn't seem to get into the flow of the game early on, with South Elgin scoring 3 times in the first 2 innings to take the lead.

"We took too many innings to get into the rhythm of the game," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "We got ourselves into a little rhythm offensively, took ourselves a lead, and then what a great job their leadoff hitters did - Brennan and Pollman did exactly what you expect your leadoff hitters to do."

Their approach wasn't all that complicated, according to Brennan.

"At that point you just have to make contact and hope that it's going to drop," she said. "Especially with this wind because everything's going back at you, so make sure you don't hit it up in the air. Basically just to get on base so somebody can hit you in."

Ulaszek, Campo, and Caitlin Fippinger each had 2 of the Hawks' 7 hits.

Brennan's triple keyed a 3-run fourth for the Storm, giving them a 6-3 lead.