Pagan excels in first Bartlett outing

Updated: April 22, 2011 2:02PM

Due to an injury-depleted bench and some overworked arms, Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith promoted freshman Holly Pagan to the varsity for a start Wednesday in an Upstate Eight Conference crossover softball game against Larkin.


What he saw could only bode well for the Hawks' future. Pagan adeptly pitched her way out of several jams, struck out six and the Hawks backed her by rapping out three home runs and 17 hits in a 14-2 victory.


"Holly did a great job on the mound for her first varsity game," said Bartlett's Jacki Gulczynski, who wasamong three Hawks pounding out their second home runs of the season. "She came in with a lot of confidence and gave us a lot of strikes."


Pagan allowed nine hits and walked three while stranding 10 base runners.


"I didn't really see it coming, so it was nice to come up," Pagan said about her promotion. 
The promotion earned her a trip to Ohio with the varsity when the Hawks go out to Ashland, Ohio this weekend for the Wendy's Spring Classic Tournament. Wolfsmith liked her ability to keep her composure even with runners on base. Larkin didn't score until it trailed 7-0 in the fifth inning. He compared Pagan to former Hawks pitching great Lauren Wydra in that respect.


"She's just kind of cool, calm and collected when the pressure is on," Wolfsmith said.


The Hawks (6-7, 2-3) benefited from eight Larkin errors, including four in the outfield. 


"We couldn't stop ground balls, we couldn't catch pop ups," coach Larry Hight said. "We would have had to play error-free."




The fielding woes hadn't been a problem for the Royals (6-8, 1-3) before Wednesday.
"Every team has this," Hight said. "This is our time."


The Hawks didn't need the help. They got to Larkin starter Megan Johnson (2-3) for 14 hits, including a two-run homer by Nicole Beck in the fourth for a 6-0 lead, Gulczynski's solo homer in the sixth and a solo homer by Kaylyn Zierke leading off the seventh. 


Gulczynski went 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI, Beck 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI, Lisa Matsie 2-for-4 with two RBI, Zierke 3-for-4 with an RBI, Brittany Idler 2-for-5 with an RBI, and Cara Carrion 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI. Cassie Hernandez joined the hit parade with an RBI double.


The explosion came a day after the Hawks got shut out by St. Charles East.


"It was nice to see us swing the bats well and hopefully we'll carry that with us with us a little to Ohio," Wolfsmith said.


For Larkin, Lexi Smithberg had two hits and Johnson two hits, including an RBI double in the two-run fifth.




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