Bartlett's Dennison denies St. Charles East
The tougher the situation Callie Dennison found herself in Wednesday at St. Charles East the better the Bartlett senior pitched.
Dennison worked out of one jam after another in the Hawks' 3-0 victory. St. Charles East left 11 runners on base, 10 of them in scoring position.
"Mentally when we have errors I still have a lot of control and I can pick up my teammates," Dennison said. "I can't let it get to me. Shake it off, it's a new batter."
The Hawks (12-2, 6-2) committed 4 errors that contributed to the tight spots. One of them came in the first inning followed by a walk to Jenny Niemiec. Dennison set down the Saints' No. 4 and No. 5 hitters to end the threat.
The Saints (9-5, 5-3) stranded a runner in scoring position in every inning but the seventh, and they would have in that inning too if not for a swift 1-6-3 double play turned by Bartlett.
"She battled, that was a heck of a game," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "She was struggling with herself. We didn't have that good change of speed you like to use against a team that swings the bat like these guys do. She worked very hard to get outs."
Dennison said her change wasn't working because she pitched three games from 40 feet this weekend at the Wendy's tournament in Ohio. This was her first game back at 43 feet.
"In Ohio I was beating a lot of teams with my speed," Dennison said. "Coming back here speed is not really here for any pitcher. Today my rise ball was one of my best pitches and normally that is one of my weakest pitches."
The Saints almost put a run on the board in the third. Mary Kate Brooks led off with a single and went to third when the Hawks threw away Steph Roan's sacrifice bunt.
Niemiec's ground out scored Brooks, but umpires ruled interference on the play and sent Brooks back to third. Dennison then again retired the Saints' 4-5 hitters, both on strikeouts.
"The more I think about the call, it was a close one," Saints coach Kelly Horan said.
"She (the baserunner) definitely made contact with our second baseman," Wolfsmith said. "A fielder has a right to the ball. She did a good enough job getting the contact that the umpire saw it."
With runners at second and third in the fourth, Dennison retired Brooks, the Saints' leadoff hitter.
With runners at second and third in the sixth, Saints sophomore catcher Casey Basic - playing her first varsity game - missed a 2-run double down the left field line by an inch, then struck out. Dennison retired Brooks on a comebacker to retire the side and again leave the Saints frustrated.
"We were one hit away from a completely different ballgame," Horan said. "Yesterday (in a loss to South Elgin) we weren't just one thing away. So we can fix that and we will work hard to do that."
Saints starter Gabby Moe matched Dennison scoreless inning for scoreless inning - except for the Hawks' 3-run fourth. And even in that inning two of the three Bartlett runs scored on a hit batter (Lauren Chuchuvara) and a Saints throwing error. Jacki Gulczynski had the only RBI hit in the game with a bases-loaded single.
"We took advantage when the door got open there," Wolfsmith said. "I thought Moe was dealing today, moved the ball around real nice. They are a good team. I'll take this one on the road."
Dennison recorded her second shutout after previously blanking Batavia. She struck out five and walked two.
The Saints, who entered the week with 2 losses, lost their third game in as many days. Horan said one bright spot was Basic, who St. Charles East pulled off the JV bus at 3 p.m. and told her she would be playing her first varsity game.
"Did she look like a little sophomore that never gets to play with the varsity? Absolutely not," Horan said. "That was good to see. The team could have freaked out, they could have panicked. No one did. Everyone was confident once Casey warmed up. What a kid."