Plainfield East ends Benet's season
The Benet softball team's character showed until the very end of Thursday's 2-0 semifinal loss to host Plainfield East in the Bengals' Class 4A regional.
Winning pitcher Bianca Vozenilek had no-hit the Redwings, seeded 11th in the Downers Grove South sectional, through six innings and racked up 11 of her 12 strikeouts.
The fifth-seeded Bengals (21-10) got two quick outs in the seventh. Then Brooklyn Baccega reached on an infield hit when her groundball took an unexpected bounce. Meagan McCormick followed with a single to center and then Nina Hulet's well-placed groundball turned into an infield hit to load the bases.
Unfortunately for the Redwings (16-16), Vozenilek got her 12th strikeout, ending Benet's season and setting up a Saturday regional final between Plainfield East and fourth-seeded Downers Grove North.
"They don't quit. They don't ever quit," Redwings coach Jerry Schilf of his players. "We did stuff with two strikes and two outs."
It wasn't easy before the seventh for Benet. Only three made it to base. McCormick walked in the third. Allie Goettsch was hit by a pitch in the sixth and Jessica Brown reached based on a fielder's choice as part of an attempted double play that got Goettsch out at second.
"(Vozenilek) moved the ball really well. It took until the seventh to get a read on her," said Benet first baseman Emily York.
Schilf praised the performance of Benet starting pitcher Megan Stoppelman. The Bengals only got on the scoreboard in the third inning thanks to RBI singles by Vozenilek and Peyton Loesch and finished that inning with 3 hits total. Plainfield East got only 4 hits over the other five innings.
The majority of the Redwings' roster returns in 2016 including Stoppelman. Three seniors - York, Brown and Steph Abello - played their last game for Benet.
"We get a lot of people back, but losing those three will be big holes to fill," Schilf said.
Team unity was the thing the three mentioned the most when asked what they would remember about high school softball.
"You have the club season and then here is a total difference. For four years it's like family," Brown said.
York also will remember many positives as well.
"I will remember the comradeship. It was a family. Everyone was smiling and always happy. And there never was a dull moment," she said.