Bartlett knocks off Elgin

The Bartlett softball team knew it just had to be patient against Elgin’s Hannah Perryman and chip away at a 2-run deficit.

The Hawks scored once in the fourth and once in the sixth to tie the game and then took advantage of a dropped popup in the seventh to score twice and leave Elgin with a 5-3 Upstate Eight crossover victory Tuesday.

“You just keep making contact against someone like Hannah and hope good things happen,” Hawks coach Jim Wolfsmith said.

Bartlett (3-4) took the lead in the second on a solo home run to center from Lisa Matsie.

The Maroons (6-2) answered with 3 runs in the bottom of the second. Elizabeth Gorski drew a one-out walk before freshman Anna Eckholm hit a 2-run home run. Kelly Bremer drove in Rachel Roth, who doubled, on a fielder’s choice for a 3-1 lead.

Brittany Idler drove in a run in the fourth on a single to make it 3-2. Idler drove in Steph Tomazin, who went 2-for-3, tying the game at 3-3 in the sixth.

In the top of the seventh, Bartlett’s Andreanna Tomazin had a one-out infield single. A fielder’s choice got Tomazin to second with Nicole Beck coming up. Beck hit a popup in the field that was dropped, allowing Tomazin to score. Matsie, who went 2-for-3, then doubled off the fence in right-center to drive in Beck.

“I usually hit to make contact and get on base,” Matsie said. “I knew it the second I hit (the home run) it hit the nice sweet spot on the bat.”

Elgin got two runners on with one-out in the bottom of the seventh. Wolfsmith took out Amanda Montbriand and brought in Tori Burke. Burke got a strikeout and a lineout for the final two outs for the save.

“I was impressed with the way Amanda pitched. She battled all game long,” Wolfsmith said. “I thought once they got the runners on first and second it was a good time to bring Tori in. She was fresh. She had a little giddy-up on her pitches. I think that definitely affected the end of the game.”

Montbriand (2-1) allowed 6 hits and walked five in 6 1/3 innings for the win.

Eckholm was 3-for-4 for the Maroons. Roth had 2 hits. Perryman (3-1) struck out 10 in suffering the defeat.

“That’s a tough one,” Elgin coach Chad Dahlman said. “For the most part we’ve been playing pretty good defense. Today, our defense let us down and it cost us.”