Benet outslugs Neuqua Valley

It's still very early in the season, but both Benet and Neuqua Valley showed their softball hitting abilities are already finely tuned when the Redwings edged the host Wildcats 8-7 on Monday in Naperville.

The teams connected on a total of 21 hits on a day with a mild wind and at times no wind. The hits kept coming until the very end as Neuqua Valley (1-4) scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to stay on Benet's heels.

"We're young and we're going to make mistakes like we did today. But we came up with the win," said Redwings coach Jerry Schilf.

With the score tied at 5, Benet (3-0) scored 3 runs in the top of the seventh thanks to RBI basehits by Megan Stoppelman and Brooklyn Baccega, two of five Benet players to finish with 2 hits apiece on the day. In the bottom half of the inning, run-scoring singles from Ary DiBernardo and Julia Rainer scored Jessie Boudreau and Alexis Sales. Sales was running for Dominica Lange, whose single was her third hit of the day.

"I have confidence in our 1 to 9 hitters. Actually, there are 11 or 12 hitters on our team and I have confidence in every one," said Neuqua coach Laura McCarthy. "We just have to get past the little-bitty mistakes. We're better than 1-4."

Benet was hitless during the first two innings and broke that zero in a big way with 3 runs on 4 hits in the third. The hits were an RBI short single to center by Baccega and a first-pitch homer over the left-field fence by Steph Abello. Abello said she approached that at-bat no differently than others.

"I come up to the plate and try to be aggressive and pick up whatever pitch I can," Abello said.

Neuqua wasted no time in responding, scoring 4 runs on 2 hits in its half of the third thanks to a sharp single to center by freshman catcher Danielle Olson and a 2-run double to left by Lange. Olson finished the game 4-for-4, and Lange finished with 3 hits.

Meagan McCormick's two-out double in the fifth scored two runs to give the Redwings the lead back at 5-4. That advantage didn't last as Neuqua's Jenny Budds connected on a leadoff single to left in bottom of the fifth and later scored on a double steal.

Stoppelman was the winning pitcher for Benet, striking out 4.

"I'm just trying to throw my pitches and keep the ball down and try to hit my corners," she said. "It was definitely back and forth and a good way to start the season."