St. Charles North powers past Bartlett

As the temperature got colder Saturday, St. Charles North's bats got warmer.

And the North Stars' freshman in the circle pitched a pretty hot game, too.

SCN scored early and often and freshman Jillian Waslawski shut down the high-powered Bartlett offense as the North Stars rolled to a 12-2 win in five innings to capture the Class 4A Glenbard West regional championship in a game played through a steady rain and falling temperatures in Glen Ellyn.

"They were focused today," said North Stars' coach Tom Poulin of his team. "We wanted to give our best effort both between the ears and physically. Everybody's good now. It's who's the one who has it between the ears."

That was clearly the North Stars on this day, and their focused effort earned them a spot in Tuesday's 7 p.m. Rolling Meadows sectional semifinal against the winner of Monday's Fremd regional final between the host Vikings and Elk Grove.

North (27-5) broke out on top with a run in the bottom of the first inning of Saturday's game as senior Kaitlyn Waslawski coaxed a leadoff walk and scored on Ali Moberg's two-out double, the first of 9 runs SCN plated with two outs.

Bartlett (21-11-1) did come back to tie the game in the top of the second as Suzie Miceli and Danielle Kleeman put together back-to-back doubles but when the North Stars scored 5 times in the second, it left the Hawks chasing the lead the rest of the day, a lead that only grew from there.

"They did a great job hitting the ball. Give North all the credit," said Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith. "They had a bunch of two-out hits that kind of demoralized us."

Three of those came in the second. After Erin Nemetz was hit with a pitch and Sam Hausl walked, Bartlett junior Danielle Kirby struck out the next two hitters. But the next two, Kaitlyn Waslawski and Jordyn Wolfe, doubled ahead of a booming 2-run home run to center field from Abby Howlett, and the rout was on.

"I knew we were ready going in," said Kaitlyn Waslawski, who was 2-for-3 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI. "We've got a lot of fight in us. I was expecting a close game but I knew we had the ability to beat them if we came out and played our game. I just try to treat every game now like it's my last game and I want to end it with no regrets."

Senior Lauren Janczak hit a solo home run with two outs in the third and bring Bartlett to within 6-2 but the Hawks failed to cash in on a golden opportunity to close the gap even further. Elyse Hickey followed Janczak's homer with a single and Alyssa Nowak jacked a ground-rule double to left-center but Jillian Waslawski got Amber Pagan to ground out to first to end the threat.

"We had runners in scoring position and didn't get the hits when we needed them," said Wolfsmith. "Their pitching coach, pitcher and catcher did a really nice job of hitting their spots. It was a real clean game. They took advantage of their scoring situations and we didn't."

And while her teammates continued to hit the ball all over Glen Ellyn, Jillian Waslawski set down the final six Bartlett hitters without allowing another baserunner. She struck out 3 in her 5 innings of work and didn't walk a better while allowing just 5 hits.

"It means so much to me," she said of winning a regional title in her first high school season. "I've worked hard to make myself and my team better and I'm just so proud of my team right now.

"My pitching coach, Thjis Dennison, and I talk all the time and we just switched some things up after the first time through the lineup."

Poulin liked what he saw from his rookie right-hander in a pressure game under adverse conditions.

"I was very impressed with Jillian today," he said. "Bartlett is a good team and she was very focused. I'm proud of her. For a freshman to stand in the circle and win a regional championship shows the mental toughness she has."

North added 5 runs in the fourth, the big hit coming from Kaitlyn Waslawski who launched a 2-run homer to left field. Sam Hausl had a 2-run single in the inning and Amanda James also drove in a run.

The North Stars ended the game on the slaughter rule in the bottom of the fifth when James led off with a walk, was sacrificed to second with one out by Wolfe and then scored the game-ending run on Howlett's single to right.

"We've been saying two-out RBIs are important and that broke the game open," Poulin said. "Our seniors really stepped up in big moments today.

"That's as well as we've played."