Bartlett stuns West Chicago taking class 4A regional title

Bartlett junior pitcher Callie Dennison had to be happy when she looked up at the scoreboard upon entering the circle in the bottom of the first inning Saturday.

Dennison and senior catcher Elizabeth Kay, both Division I recruits, had doubles in a 4-run, 4-hit top of the inning to stake the seventh-seeded Hawks to an early lead.

Bartlett needed every one of those runs and another 4-spot in the seventh to outlast No. 2 seed West Chicago.

Kay had 3 hits and made a key play on defense in the final inning as the Hawks defeated the Wildcats 8-6 to win the Class 4A Schaumburg regional. It is Bartlett's third regional title since 2006.

The Hawks (19-14) will take on Glenbard North on Wednesday at the Lake Park sectional. Glenbard North dumped St. Charles East 4-1 Saturday to win the St. Charles East regional.

"(West Chicago pitcher) Mary Connolly is a very good pitcher," said Dennison, "but I just had a feeling that were going to score a lot of runs today."

West Chicago's Kaity Olson knocked out 3 singles, and Chrissie Rovtar blasted a 3-run homer as the Wildcats had 13 hits on the day but still fell short.

"We should have won this game," said West Chicago coach Emily Johnson. "I don't think a team has scored 8 runs on us all year."

West Chicago got within a run in the fourth when Ali Taddeucci smacked a 3-run double, then Bartlett took an 8-3 lead in the seventh behind hits from Alysse Taormina and Kay.

Rovtar's home run brought the Wildcats to within striking distance in the bottom of the seventh, but with the tying run at the plate, Kay threw out a West Chicago steal attempt at second base to seal the win.

"I was surprised they ran in a situation like that," said Kay, "but I was happy they did."

"Connolly is an excellent pitcher," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith, "so we tried to get to her early to set the tone. Either you set the tone, or she will.

"Sometimes good pitchers take an inning or so to settle in, and we were able to get some runs up on the board early and that was a key."