Fecho, Glenbard North shut out Bartlett
Glenbard North knew the Bartlett team it was facing Tuesday was better than the one it manhandled in March.
With Lilly Fecho throwing like this, it didn’t matter.
The Purdue-bound junior lefty two-hit No. 13 seed Bartlett, striking out eight, and No. 4 Glenbard North backed her with a pair of solo homers in a 2-0 win at the Class 4A Glenbard North regional.
Glenbard North beat Bartlett 9-1 in the season opener March 31. This one more resembled the one-run playoff games the teams split in 2008 and 2009.
“It seems like we always see them in the playoffs,” Panthers coach Josh Sanew said with a laugh. “They’ve come a long way and they’re young. We always have great battles. It’s just nice to be on the other end of it.”
Bartlett (17-17) had chances to draw first blood in the third and fourth innings.
Tori Burke walked on a full count with one out in the third, and the courtesy runner moved to second on a grounder. Steph Tomazin battled Fecho to a full count but took a called strike on the 10th pitch.
Nicole Beck singled with two out in the fourth, Bartlett’s first hit, and Lisa Matsie reached on an error. But Fecho (16-4) came back to strike out Kaylyn Zierke swinging on another full count.
“Realistically when you face a pitcher like Lilly, as good as she is,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said, “when you get chances you got to take advantage of them. When she needed the pitch, she hit her spots.”
“Those are just situations you have to work through; they occur all the time,” Fecho said. “You work through them, and then you come back in the dugout and have your team support you.”
Glenbard North’s offense broke through in its half of the fourth.
Alyssa Jasinski deposited Burke’s 2-0 pitch over the fence in center for a leadoff homer, her fourth of the year. Two outs later, Heather Sperlazzo went the opposite way for a homer to right, her first of the year and Glenbard North’s 22nd.
“I’ve been waiting on my first home run to happen. I’ve been close on a couple of them,” said Sperlazzo, who also doubled twice. “I just kept my hands back and my head down.”
“She’s coming into her own and she’s got good pop,” Sanew said of Sperlazzo, who hit over .300 in conference. “Huge for a freshman to come through for us like that.”
Glenbard North (20-5), which advances to play either West Chicago or Wheaton Warrenville South in Saturday’s regional final, did leave nine runners on base and Burke struck out seven.
“They hit the bejesus out of the ball the first time we played them,” Wolfsmith said, “but Tori battled all game long. They’re just a great-hitting team.”
Two homers was offense for Fecho, who coaxed 11 ground-ball outs on a day where the breeze was blowing out.
“She’s very good at keeping the ball outside and keeping it low,” Wolfsmith said. “She doesn’t really elevate the ball to the point where you can drive it consistently. When she gets the outside corner, she’s tough to hit because she has good movement.”