Jacobs cruises by Chargers

Cassy Bencal provided the offensive fireworks while Marissa Lombardo was stellar in the pitchers circle.

That was the scenario as Jacobs cruised past District 300 rival Dundee-Crown 9-2 in a Fox Valley Conference Valley Division softball game in Algonquin Wednesday afternoon.

Bencal was 3-for-4 at the plate with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI for the Golden Eagles (10-4, 4-1).

"I was really seeing the ball well at the plate today," said Bencal. "We work hard in practice. I took a lot of soft toss batting practice today and really felt comfortable at the plate. We came out aggressively and strong offensively. We were really pumped up because D-C is a great rival. We were a little iffy as a team at the beginning of the season but we are starting to play better now."

Lombardo, who was 3-for-4 at the plate with 2 doubles and an RBI, shut out Dundee-Crown (4-11, 0-4) for 5 innings on 4 hits. She struck out 5 Charger hitters without issuing a walk.

'We have pitching depth and we have confidence in all our pitchers," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "Marissa got some nice run support and pitched well. She used all her pitches effectively."

The Golden Eagles roughed up Dundee-Crown starter Emilie Kerkman for 3 runs in the first inning. The key hits were an RBI single by Bencal and an RBI double from Lombardo.

Jacobs added a run in the third on an RBI single by Amber Livingston. The Golden Eagles scored 4 in the fourth courtesy of an RBI single by Bencal and a 2-run double by Kelsey Peterson, and added as run in the fifth on an RBI single by Jenna Teson.

D-C's lone highlight was a sixth inning solo homer by Melany Love off Livingston.

"We battled but the first inning killed us," said Dundee-Crown coach Tracy Beatty. "We made way too many errors. We are improving and hit the ball well. The kids are playing hard."