Bartlett rallies back to defeat Schaumburg
Before they came to bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, Bartlett softball players met in the dugout to talk about their 2-0 deficit to Schaumburg.
"We said this game is not over," said senior catcher Elizabeth Kay. "We said we have time to score."
And what a time the Hawks had shortly after their pep talk.
They scored all 6 of their runs in the bottom of the fourth and went on to post a 6-2 triumph over the No. 10-seeded Saxons Thursday in the semifinal of the Schaumburg Class 4A regional semifinal.
No. 7 Bartlett (20-14) will meet No. 2 West Chicago (27-5) for the title on Saturday at 10 a.m.
Junior third baseman Megan Morales proved to be the catalyst in the big rally when she belted a 2-run homer over the center-field fence to tie the game at 2-2 with no outs.
The Hawks used that momentum to score four more times, getting an RBI double to left-center from Jackie Gulczynski and RBI singles by Chelsea Klein and Rachel Anello.
Winning pitcher Callie Dennison (16-11), a junior, started the rally when she reached on an infield error and then came home on Morales' second homer of the season (her first was a grand slam).
"We were waiting for someone other than Callie (Butler recruit) or Elizabeth (Illinois State recruit) to wake us up," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "And it was Megan who woke us up. She is really capable of that."
"Megan had that big hit for us, and then we kept going," said Kay, the Hawks leadoff who reached base all four times she batted with a double, single and 2 walks. "We were so pumped and ready to go after that Megan's home run. That sparked our offense, for sure."
The Hawks collected 6 of their 7 hits in that inning off Schaumburg ace Missy Anderson (15-11), who finished her stellar high school career with 405 strikeouts and 204 this spring.
"Their pitcher is one of the best in the area," Wolfsmith said. "That was probably the best inning we've had all season against a quality pitched. I wouldn't have said we'd have gotten 6 runs against her. But we got some big hits with two outs (Kay, Klein and Anello) and just kind of got on a roll."
Sarah McGinn was on a roll for the Saxons (20-15).
The senior first baseman had 2 of her teams 4 hits, including a double off the base of the left field fence in the second inning.
McGinn also singled home Aly Poehlmann for the Saxons' 2-0 lead in the third inning.
Just before that, Nicole Chase's sacrifice fly to center brought home Alyssa Lancaster from third base.
Lancaster and Alexis Carravetta had the other hits for Schaumburg.
"We had a great season," said Saxons coach Erin Malinowski. "Bartlett hits the ball well. And they have a good team. We made some great defensive plays but they hit the ball where we weren't a lot. And we hit a lot right at them. Sometimes it goes that way."
Dennison struck out seven while scattering 4 hits.
"Callie did a great job," Wolfsmith said. "She has a good ERA. When we play defense behind her (only 1 error), we generally wins games."
"We had a great season," Malinowski added. "It was a great group of kids. I am going to miss the seniors (Anderson, Brittany Hill, Caitlin Becker and McGinn) a ton."