Vernon Hills 5, Zion-Benton 2

The lineup features Alyssa, Adriana, Anastasia and Anna, as well as the ace, whose last name is Allen.

But only one girl on Vernon Hills' softball team is called "A."

That would be Adriana Longobardi, she of the eight-syllable name.

"Talk to my parents about that," Longobardi said.

Let's talk about Longobardi, who's more than just "a" good hitter.

Against Zion-Benton on Friday, the Cougars' slugging catcher was "the" hitter. She jacked a 2-run homer over the left-field fence in the first inning, giving host Vernon Hills a lead it never relinquished en route to a 5-2 win.

"That homer was rocked," Cougars coach Paul Weber said.

The North Suburban Conference crossover was called due to rain and lightning with Vernon Hills batting in the sixth, after Megan Kubacki reached on an infield single to score Charlotte Hoffman from third.

The win was the ninth in a row for Vernon Hills (15-3), which hasn't lost since dropping Game 2 of a doubleheader against Buffalo Grove on April 5. The Cougars started the season by winning 4-of-6 games in Florida.

"Since we've been back, we've been playing the hardest that we've ever played -- consistently," Longobardi said. "Like, we'll win a game and then we'll come out just as hard the next day."

The Cougars certainly had a strong start against struggling Zion-Benton (10-8), which has lost seven in a row.

After Vernon Hills pitcher Jackie Allen escaped a first-inning jam (first and third with one out), the Cougars' Marci Pasquesi drew a one-out walk in the bottom of the frame.

After Alyssa Dougherty (1-for-3) flew out, Longobardi smacked her first homer of the season.

Interestingly, she took some good-natured ribbing from a Cougars coach for swinging at the shoulder-high pitch from Z-B's Becky Taylor that she deposited well over the fence.

"Apparently, that wasn't even the right pitch for me, but I liked it," Longobardi, who hit 3 homers last year, said with a laugh. "I got to swing at better pitches, apparently."

Zion-Benton got an RBI single from Veronica Kraly in the third, but Vernon Hills got the run back in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Anastasia Guletsky and Hoffmann.

Hoffmann, who hit her fourth homer of the season Thursday, tripled in the sixth.

"She hits the ball hard," Weber said.

Zion-Benton's Abby Hanson also hits the ball hard. She finished a triple shy of the cycle. Her solo homer in the fifth -- which followed a first-inning single and third-inning double -- got the Zee-Bees within 3-2.

But Vernon Hills' Anna Christensen reached on a bunt single in the fifth and scored on a two-out single by Dougherty, padding the lead to 4-2.

Allen pitched all 6 innings in improving to 11-1.

"The girls are playing very solid ball," said Weber, whose team is scheduled to host Marengo in a doubleheader today. "We made some mistakes out there, but we didn't bail.

"We have good depth, good experience and we have talent, too. The girls come out to play."