Saints' rally topples Bartlett

St. Charles East junior Beth Carrignan loves to hit the first pitch.

So when Carrignan came to the plate with the game on the line in the top of the ninth inning at Bartlett Wednesday, that's exactly what she did.

Carrignan laced Callie Dennison's first pitch over the head of Bartlett's left fielder to score Rachael Edwards with the eventual winning run as the Saints notched a thrilling 5-4 win over the Hawks to remain the only undefeated softball team in the Upstate Eight Conference.

"I always like to hit the first pitch," said Carrignan, the Saints' No. 9 hitter who was 0-for-3 until her game-winning at-bat. "Coach taught us that if it's there, drive it. (Dennison) gave it to me and I hit it."

St. Charles East coach Kelly Barnett had faith in Carrignan to come through.

"Beth is our (designated player) for a reason," Barnett said. "She's getting good at-bats and making something happen."

Bartlett (8-6, 2-4), which saw the defense of its UEC title from a year ago take another hit, jumped ahead 4-0 in the first inning. Katie Popovich drove in 2 runs for the Hawks in the inning while Nicole Beck and Megan Morales each had RBI.

But from there on, St. Charles East junior Gabby Moe shut the Hawks down, scattering 5 hits over the final 8 innings and getting Bartlett senior standout Elizabeth Kay (3-for-5) to fly out to center with the tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth. Moe struck out six and walked two, both in the first inning.

"The team rallied around Gabby and she was lights out after the first inning," Barnett said. "It's a credit to the girls for rallying around her."

The Saints (8-4, 4-0) trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the seventh but used a Bartlett error, one of four Hawks miscues on the day, and an RBI single from Mary Kate Brooks (2-for-4) to tie the game.

Reinbold had a double for the Saints and Edwards was 3-for-4.

Rachel Anello added 2 hits for Bartlett, which has added a 10 a.m. Saturday home doubleheader against Stagg to its schedule.

Dennison gave up 10 hits in suffering the loss. She struck out three and walked two.

"Every single game we've lost has been this same thing," lamented frustrated Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "Our defense is capable of great things but unfortunately our defense is also capable of giving up a lot of runs. This game should have been over in regulation. We didn't hit very well today and we didn't field well in key situations. We have to find a way to get past that."