Bartlett splits with Fremd; Burlington Central falls twice

It's been some kind of week for the Bartlett softball team and senior Callie Dennison.

After losing to St. Charles North in a big Upstate Eight Conference matchup on Monday, Dennison and the Hawks came back strong with wins over top UEC teams Neuqua Valley and Lake Park.

Then on Saturday morning, less than 12 hours after Bartlett's prom, the ninth-ranked Hawks came back with a solid 1-0 win over No. 2 Fremd in the first game of a nonconference doubleheader that had to be moved to Palatine due to field conditions at Bartlett.

Katie Popovich drove in Alysse Taormina with the game's only run in the bottom of the third inning off Fremd reliever Stacy Hyntka, who had taken over for Vikings' ace Lena Brottman to start the inning.

The rest was left to Dennison (15-5), who tossed a 2-hitter against Fremd's powerful lineup. She struck out six and walked one. Lisa Matsie added a double for Bartlett.

"It was a heck of a softball game," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith.

Fremd (24-3) came back and took Game 2 by a 7-6 score. Sophomore Alicia Salata started for Bartlett (18-8) before giving way to Dennison in the fourth and Fremd leading 6-4. Fremd scored an unearned run off Dennison in the sixth and held on for the win. Dennison had a double and 4 RBI for the Hawks.

Now, about Dennison's week. She allowed just 3 earned runs in 31 innings pitched and has a streak of 26 innings without allowing an earned run going into next week. She also went 11-for-17 at the plate.

"She really caught fire this week," said Wolfsmith. "She pitched a gem for 11 innings today."

Wolfsmith also hopes his team can continue this week's run as the postseason approaches. The Hawks return to the field Tuesday at Waubonsie Valley.

"Hopefully we're finding our stride," said Wolfsmith, whose team advanced to a supersectional last season. "I'm pretty happy with our week, especially today considering it was the morning after prom and the fact we had to get on there bus at the last minute and go to their field."

Burlington Central loses two: Rockets' acting coach Lowell Oranger used Saturday's nonconference doubleheader as an opportunity to give some reserve players and pitchers some playing time and the Rockets fell to Libertyville 6-3 and 22-0. In Game 1, Abby Morrow was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Ashley Scheffler had a double for BC. Kelsey Johnson (0-2) suffered the loss in the circle. In Game 2, BC (9-10) committed 7 errors and had just 1 hit a double by freshman Rebecca Rouscher, who was also the losing pitcher.