Bartlett rallies to beat St. Charles North
The Bartlett softball team had yet to collect an extra-base hit Wednesday afternoon when Alyssa Nowak strode to the plate in the top of the seventh.
St. Charles North had already collectively hit for the cycle.
But the North Stars committed the last of their six errors on a muffed infield pop while nursing a 1-run lead in the teams' Upstate Eight Conference game in St. Charles.
Nowak made the North Stars pay dearly for yet another uncharacteristic defensive misplay.
The junior laced a double to the right-center gap to score Elyse Hickey.
Nowak added a second double in the Hawks' ninth inning; it would be the centerpiece of a 3-run final at-bat for Bartlett.
Danielle Kirby retired the North Stars in order in their half to complete the 9-6 victory.
"(The North Stars are) a really good team, especially considering how we played the last two games," Nowak said. "I knew that if I could get it going, (the hitting) would be contagious."
Bartlett (8-4, 3-2) was coming off back-to-back late losses to Geneva and St. Charles East.
St. Charles North fell to 7-3 and 3-2.
Hickey had a one-out single in the Hawks' ninth inning and moved into third when Nowak lined a vicious drive off the North Stars' third baseman.
St. Charles North could not prevent Hickey from scoring on an Amber Pagan grounder, and Nina Pavel plated Nowak with the Hawks' third hit of the inning.
Sarah Schmitz was credited with the third RBI for Bartlett in the second extra-inning.
"That's a validation," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said of the critical comeback win. "We know when we play good teams, we can play with anybody. I love the fact that once they took the lead, we didn't give up."
The North Stars trailed for much of the game, but their fifth at-bat appeared to be decisive.
With Jillian Waslawski on first base with a leadoff single, Jordyn Wolf tripled to the right-center gap.
The sophomore waltzed home when Abby Howlett hit a tape-measure 2-run homer over the fence in right.
The North Stars led 6-4 after the towering drive.
"After my last at-bat (a strikeout), I was trying to get it out of my head," Howlett said. "I wanted to make sure I got a pitch I could drive hard."
St. Charles North ninth-place hitter Amanda James also found an offering to her liking in the North Stars' third.
The senior connected for a long home run over the left-field fence to engineer the North Stars' 2-run inning that tied the game at 3-3.
Lauren Janczak began the scoring for Bartlett with a first-inning single.
But the story was the Hawks playing error-free softball while St. Charles North struggled mightily.
"We didn't deserve to win the game," St. Charles North coach Tom Poulin said. "If we would have won, we would have stolen it. How many of their 9 runs were earned? Two? Three?"