Second chances don't come around often, so when Bartlett's softball team got one during Thursday's Class 4A Lake Park sectional semifinal game against Glenbard North, it took advantage.

Thanks to a rare call, the Hawks got a second crack in the second inning and scored both their runs in a game they won 2-1.

Bartlett will face a familiar opponent in Saturday's sectional championship game. The Hawks and Upstate Eight Conference foe St. Charles North (who topped them twice during the regular season) will play for the title at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lake Park's east campus.

An illegal pitch called against North's Hannah Santora advanced Nicole Beck, who had singled, to second base while it nullified Jackie Gulczynski's strikeout (which would have been the second out of the inning) and added a ball to her count as she strode back to the plate.

Gulczynski promptly singled and moved to second on a fielder's choice throw, putting runners at  second and third.

"I didn't see it in the batter's box because I was focusing on her hip," Gulczynski said of the illegal pitch ruling. "I was fortunate to go up there again."

Elizabeth Kay came to the plate with two outs and doubled to the gap in right field, plating Beck and Emily Stonehill (who ran in place of Gulczynski) with the only runs Bartlett needed.

"I think it was something outside because I took it to the opposite field," Kay said of her key hit.

The two runs gave Bartlett (21-14) pitcher Callie Dennison all the support she needed. After the Hawks scored their runs, Dennison worked three 1-2-3 innings and yielded just three hits to the Panthers, the last a solo home run to Bri DiGioia in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Time and again she induced slow grounders or lazy fly balls to retire the Panthers.

"My changeup was my pitch today," Dennison said. "I had a pitching lesson Tuesday and spent most of the time working on my changeup. I got it so I could throw it in any count (today)."