Burke, Bartlett upend No. 1 Glenbard North

Tori Burke badly wanted one last crack at Glenbard North.

She got it Saturday, and didn’t disappoint.

Bartlett’s senior ace threw her third straight playoff shutout — striking out 13 — and Alex Morales doubled in the only run as the No. 2 seed Hawks beat No. 1 Glenbard North 1-0 at the Class 4A Lake Park regional final.

Burke boosted Bartlett (30-8) to its third sectional championship in six years, and into a Monday supersectional matchup in Rosemont with Maine West — a team it beat 13-0 April 27.

And, at last, Burke got the upper hand on Glenbard North and Lilly Fecho, who beat Bartlett in regionals last year and 1-0 in March. The two schools separated by just four miles have split four softball playoff games the last five years, three decided by one run.

“I have wanted to play this team in a high-intensity situation since last year when they beat us,” said Burke, whose 13 strikeouts were one shy of a career high and matched her 13 in the regional final. “Bartlett-Glenbard North, that’s one of the best rivalries out there.”

Glenbard North (34-3), seeking its first sectional title since 2005, instead was shut out for the first time this year.

“The name of the game is we really didn’t hit, myself included,” said Fecho. “Where she threw it, it wasn’t where you’d expect it to be, kind of outside and high. We didn’t make the adjustments.”

Burke (19-6) retired the first nine batters she faced, striking out the side in the first and fourth. What she might lack in velocity she more than compensates for with movement, particularly on a tempting rise ball that makes batters chase out of the zone.

“She locates real well,” Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said, “and most people who bat against her will tell you that her ball really moves. It’s hard to square her up. And she is so good in key situations.”

Fecho (27-3) struck out five, working around baserunners the first four innings including Kaylyn Zierke’s leadoff double in the fourth. Bartlett finally got to her in the sixth, but not without controversy.

Pinch-hitter Steph Tomazin singled with one out, and moved up on a Zierke grounder. On a 2-2 pitch, Morales took a very close offering from Fecho for ball three. Next pitch, Morales promptly drilled a Fecho curve off the right-field fence to break the scoreless tie.

“That was pretty intense there,” said Morales, who later made a tumbling catch in left-center to end the game.

Glenbard North Josh Sanew protested the close call, and didn’t stop as the run was crossing the plate. He still found it tough to stomach after the game.

“I felt that ball was right down the middle. I didn’t see the catcher flinch,” Sanew said. “You knew that once he missed that call something was going to happen. It seems like it always works that way, and seems like it always happens in a sectional.”

Glenbard North’s best scoring chance came in its half of the sixth. Bri Harn, who earlier singled for the Panthers’ first baserunner, slapped a one-out single over the third-base bag and took second on an errant throw in. Burke came back to strike out the next batter, then carefully issued a walk to Fecho, Glenbard North’s most dangerous bat.

Burke fell behind cleanup hitter Sydney Benz 2-0, then threw three straight strikes.

“I wanted to challenge (Fecho), but I didn’t want to give her a pitch she could beat me on,” Burke said. “I wasn’t going to lay something juicy into her.”