Prep Softball: Royals can't get to Hawks hurler

BARTLETT -- Lauren Wydra's fourth no-hitter of the season may have been subject to debate Wednesday, but Bartlett's place in the Upstate Eight Conference certainly is not.

With a 4-0 win against visiting Larkin, the Hawks remained unbeaten at 15-0 atop the UEC standings. Wydra struck out 13 and walked three to improve her record to 14-2.

Her no-hitter came into question in the seventh inning when Larkin's first batter Sophie Sterricker hit a tapper in front of the plate. Wydra had to scramble to field the ball and hurried a one-hop throw to first base.

Sterricker hustled down the line and was called safe on a bang-bang call, but that may or may not have been the case on a clean throw to first base by Wydra. The play went down as an error in the official home scoring book.

Another error by the Hawks put runners at second and third with no outs, but Wydra preserved the shutout by striking out the final three batters.

"I try not to worry about what is going on around me," Wydra said. "I just focus in on what I have to get done. I felt like I threw the ball well and changed it up."

Wydra found herself in a pitcher's duel with the Royals' Sarah McCleary, who held Bartlett scoreless through the first four innings. The Hawks, who left eight runners stranded, finally broke through with a run in the fifth.

Callie Dennison led off the inning with a double off the left-center field fence. Wydra then helped her own cause with an RBI single to left center.

"Give (Larkin's) pitcher a lot of credit," Bartlett coach Jim Wolfsmith said. "She kept the ball down and away from us. We didn't do a very good job of adjusting and shortening our swings."

The Hawks found themselves in another tight battle. Bartlett (18-5) has won eight in a row, but the last seven have been by four runs or less.

"When you are the top team in the conference, the other teams come ready to play," Wolfsmith said. "We were in another tough battle today. We're struggling to score runs and we just need to make better contact. Fortunately we were able to push a few runs across, and that's really all Lauren needs."

The Hawks added three unearned insurance runs on just one hit. Larkin (4-18, 4-10) had a costly error and McCleary walked two in the inning before being lifted with one out.

"In this second round of games (against conference opponents) we're getting closer, but we're still not winning," Larkin coach Larry Hight said. "Us not scoring off their Division I pitcher is not news. She's one of the best around. But at least we had them worried a little.

"We just can't afford to give the other team gifts. We gave them runs they shouldn't have scored."