Bartlett Hawks upends Batavia twice 7-2 and 8-6
While Batavia's win over Burlington Central this week certainly gave a young Bulldogs team confidence that it's on the right track, the victory also removed any chance of Bartlett overlooking Saturday's doubleheader.
Callie Dennison pitched and hit Bartlett to a 7-2 win in the opener, then the Hawks came from an early deficit to win 8-6 in the nightcap.
Coupled with Friday's win over Lake Park, Bartlett (6-2) has rebounded nicely from two Upstate Eight losses.
"The momentum was still there from the last game and they (Batavia) have been playing really good," Dennison said. "A bunch of people on my travel team told us they are not a team to underestimate. So I made sure I pitched good. They have improved a lot in the years (I have been here) and they never gave up."
Batavia (3-4) did rally late in the opener, scoring 2 runs in the sixth and leaving a pair of runners on in the seventh. Before that it was all Dennison and the Hawks.
Dennison allowed just an infield single through 5 innings. She also smacked a pair of hits at the plate, including a 2-run single to left in the second inning. Rachel Anello followed with an RBI single, giving Bartlett a 4-0 lead after two innings.
Those same hitters were in the middle of a 2-run fourth inning that extended the lead to 6-0. Dennison reached on an infield single, Anello also singled and Elizabeth Kay brought them both in with a triple.
"I was a little shaky (hitting) yesterday," Dennison said. "I wanted to not be so ahead of it and put it in play and it will go."
Bartlett's top three hitters - Dennison, Anello and Kay - combined to go 7 for 12 with 5 RBI and 4 runs. Kay finished a homer shy of the cycle.
"We haven't hit as a group as a unit as well as we did today," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "The top 5 or 6 should all be .350 hitters or better by the end of the season."
Batavia finally got to Dennison in the sixth. Alexa Schofield started the rally with a single. Avery Vivian drove in one run with a groundout and Brooke Nelson doubled home the other.
Kelly Coleman led the Bulldogs with 2 hits.
"We've been struggling at the plate with tougher pitchers but once we made our adjustments I thought we connected with the ball well," Coleman said.
Batavia coach Leon Pedraza saw his team get better at-bats the second and third time through the lineup, and also in Game 2. Katie Luetkens led the way with a double and home run.
"We relaxed a little bit," Pedraza said. "We have a very young team. Many of the girls have not played at the varsity level before, they are getting their feet wet, starting to get comfortable. You can see sometimes early in the game maybe we get a little too on edge. Not necessarily nervous, just anxious to prove ourselves."
Despite Saturday's losses, the win over Burlington, plus a Western Sun victory against Glenbard South, gave Batavia plenty to feel good about heading into a key week that includes a matchup against Geneva Thursday.
"We're doing good, focusing on our fundamentals," Coleman said. "We're trying to tighten up our defense but our hitting is definitely coming around.
"Our conference is really tight, anyone can take anything. We're really trying to come out strong and take our conference."
Geneva 6, Oswego East 1: Kristyn Ruitenberg limited the Wolves to just 2 hits and 1 run over seven innings. At the plate, Melissa Barber batted 3-for-3 with 3 doubles and 4 RBI. Stacey Cladis also had three hits. The Vikings improved to 3-5.
Freeport Tournament: West Aurora (10-4) finished 2-2, beating Monroe (Wis.) and Morrison and losing to McHenry and Milledgville.