Refuse-to-lose Neuqua Valley beats Benet

In the early going of a non-conference baseball road game against Neuqua Valley on Saturday, it felt like Benet could do little wrong.

The Redwings laid down a pair of perfectly placed sacrifice bunts with their Nos. 3 and 4 hitters, had another bunt go for a single and got hit by three pitches. They went 3-for-3 with 5 RBI in two-out, runners in scoring position situations, at one point staking themselves a 5-run lead.

However, a persistent Neuqua Valley managed to answer every Benet rally with one of its own to stay within striking distance before permanently turning the momentum in the fifth inning on its way to a 7-6 win.

"It's kind of been our trademark that our guys won't give up," Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner said. "It doesn't matter what the score is, they just refuse to stop playing hard."

After finally putting the stop to Benet's timely hitting by stranding three Redwings in the top of the fifth, senior catcher Matt Gould capped a 4-RBI day with a two-out, bases-clearing double to give Neuqua Valley the lead. Gould worked the count full, fouling off a couple pitches before driving the seventh pitch of the at-bat to the wall and changing the momentum of the game for good.

"That was just a huge play, and I'm hoping that all year when (Gould) is seeing the ball well he's going to right-center, right-center with line drives," Renner said.

On the mound Neuqua Valley turned to its bullpen in the fifth inning, and though Benet threatened in the aforementioned fifth and then again with bases loaded in the sixth inning, the Wildcats kept Benet off the scoreboard to earn the win.

Brett Hamilton earned the win for his work in the fifth, while Connor Rektorski had a huge strikeout to end the sixth. Then Alex DiFranco nailed down the save with an unconventional 1-2-3 inning that ended in a picturesque 4-6-3 double play.

"We gave away some outs both offensively and defensively, and when you play a good team, they're going to take advantage of that," Benet assistant coach Jorge Acosta said.

Acosta was acting as manager in place of Benet coach Scott Lawler, who was at the funeral of Benet graduate Andrew Mogni. Neuqua Valley honored Mogni during the pregame ceremony with a moment of silent prayer.