Wydra spins no-hitter for Hawks; BC wins

Lauren Wydra registered the perfect balance of lethal hitter and unforgiving pitcher.

The Bartlett senior right-hander recorded her second no-hitter of the spring in striking out 8 batters. She also broke open a tight Upstate Eight Conference softball game with a critical 2-run single as the Hawks erupted late in smashing host St. Charles North 8-0 on Monday afternoon.

With her latest gem, Wydra improved her excellent season mark to 7-1. The Hawks ran their record to 9-1, 5-0 in the league. St. Charles North fell to 4-2, 1-2. Bartlett rapped 9 hits.

Wydra allowed just 3 baserunners. She yielded 2 walks and a hit batsman, though no St. Charles North hitter advanced past second base.

She is direct and purpose driven in her approach.

"I just don't think (when I'm on the mound)," said Wydra. "I think our defense is where it's supposed to be. There's no finger crossing when the ball is hit."

In the game's opening four innings St. Charles North sophomore Amanda Engel matched Wydra nearly pitch for pitch. Engel surrendered a lone Alysse Turmina bunt single.

Bartlett ruptured the pitchers' duel in the fifth. The inning began disastrously for the North Stars with a booted grounder and got progressively worse.

Taking advantage of the error, Alexis Gordon scored on a fielder's choice and a North Stars' throwing error. The Hawks threatened by putting runners at second and third. Wydra aided her own cause and delivered the key hit by lacing a single down the right-field line for a 3-0 lead.

"I just went with the pitch," she said.

Rachel Anello added a run-producing double.

Wydra overpowered the North Stars.

"There's not much I can say," St. Charles North coach April Stary said. "We couldn't get a hit. We couldn't buy one, pay for one, bribe for one or blackmail for one."

With the 4-0 lead after the fifth inning, Bartlett continued its onslaught by taking advantage of another Stars' fielding error. The play sparked a 4-run outburst. Illinois State recruit Elizabeth Kay continued her remarkable hitting streak. She punctuated the dominant Hawks' performance by blasting a 3-run shot over the left field fence.

"I'm still not satisfied," said Kay, who is now 16 for her last 19. "I like getting hits all the time. I was looking for my perfect pitch, and (the North Stars' reliever) came with it."

Burlington Central 10, Marengo 5: On a day when junior Mackenzie Scott didn't exactly have her best stuff in the pitcher's circle, Burlington Central's bats warmed up more than the weather.

The Rockets, ranked No. 2 in this week's ICA Class 3A state poll, pounded out 12 hits off three Marengo pitchers Monday afternoon and downed the Indians 10-5 in the Big Northern East opener for both teams at Marengo.

"It's so hard to get focused in the cold weather, but you can't use that as an excuse," said BC junior leadoff hitter Kayla Oranger. We need the big hits when we have runners on base and today we got them."

Coming off their first loss of the season, 1-0 to Byron on Friday, the Rockets broke out of their offensive slump in a big way in the third and fourth innings Monday off Marengo senior ace Sarah Steinman and reliever Dana Diedrick.

Central (8-1, 1-0) sent 17 batters to the plate in those two innings, scoring 9 runs on 8 hits. Oranger started both rallies, dumping a single into left field to lead off the third, then sneaking a one-out double past Marengo's shifted defense in the fourth. She finished the day 3-for-5 with 3 runs scored and 2 stolen bases.

"That's the best game she's had in a while and we need that consistency from her," said Central coach Scot Sutherland.

Junior Lindsay Lange (2-for-4, 3 RBI) had the hit to open things up in the third, stroking a two-out single up the middle to score Oranger and Brooke Porto, who had walked.

"She's come up with some runners on and sent it to the wall for us a couple of times this year," Sutherland said of Lange. "That was nice to see again."

Senior Erica Maisto (2-for-4) then cranked an RBI double to left-center and she scored on Abby Morrow's single.

Marengo (6-3, 0-1) scored 2 unearned runs in the bottom of the inning but the Rockets came back with 4 more in the top of the fourth as Porto and Morrow (2-for-3, 3 RBI) each had 2-run doubles. Sam Gruner (2-for-3) then drove in the Rockets' final run in the fifth.

"That's what we needed," said Sutherland. "It was good to see our 4-5 hitters getting some extra base hits."

Scott (3 earned runs) struck out 15 but allowed 5 hits, walked 5 and hit a batter while struggling a bit with her control. Marengo left 9 runners on base.

-- John Radtke