McGuire powers Benet to notable win

Maeve McGuire knew a Benet-Naperville Central softball game wouldn’t be complete without a little drama.

At least she got a win out of this one.

McGuire and No. 3 Benet built a 7-run lead after four innings Thursday in Naperville, then held on to beat the No. 12 Redhawks 8-6 for the Redwings’ first win over Naperville Central since 2006.

McGuire was a big reason why, going 3-for-5 with a bullet leadoff double in a 4-run first inning and a solo homer in the fourth. Benet’s win over its Naperville nemesis snapped a seven-game Redhawks’ win streak in the series, including playoff games in 2009 and 2010.

“It feels pretty good to finally beat them,” said Redwings junior McGuire, “because every time we come up against them we always seem to fall just a little bit short. Benet and Central games, they’re usually pretty intense.”

Four-run Benet first and fourth innings built a seemingly comfortable 8-1 lead, but Naperville Central came back with 2 in the fifth and 2 in the sixth — and could have had more if not for two runners being thrown out on the bases in the sixth.

Laura Dierking, whose 2-run homer in the fifth started the Redhawks’ rally, walked to lead off the seventh and Katie Walker doubled in a run with two out to get it to 8-6. Benet pitcher Molly Moran fell behind 3-0 on Juliet Tassi, representing the tying run, before coaxing a game-ending pop-up.

“I didn’t want it to get that interesting, but luckily we had a big enough cushion,” Benet coach Jerry Schilf said. “Naperville Central has a good team. They’ve had our number, not only in the regular season but in the playoffs, too. This feels good.”

Benet (10-1), scoring a staggering 12.5 runs per game in its 10 wins, showed why right away Thursday. The Redwings’ first four batters of the game reached, McGuire doubling to start things, and Julianne Rurka’s hard-hit single up the middle made it 2-0. Two outs later, freshman Jessica Brown sliced a two-run single that dropped in front of the sliding right-fielder for a 4-0 lead.

“I think that hit was the difference in the game,” Schilf said. “Our kids came out swinging the bats and we hung on.”

McGuire’s fifth homer of the year — and Benet’s 20th as a team — a towering opposite-field drive to left made it 5-1 in the fourth, Rurka doubled in Kendall Duffy and with two outs Emily York doubled in Rurka and fellow freshman Stephanie Abello for an 8-1 lead.

“It’s insane the runs we’re putting up right now,” said Georgia recruit McGuire, who came in hitting a cool .706. “We like to hit.”

“We talked about yesterday that we need to keep crooked numbers off the board,” Naperville Central coach Andy Nussbaum said. “We need to keep a lid on it and limit the damage a little bit better than we have been.”

After Dierking’s homer in the fifth, Maddi Doane doubled in the Redhawks’ fifth run in the sixth, and Nicole Kappelman scored on a double steal to make it 8-5. Losing pitcher Keegan Hayes had 3 hits and Kappelman, Juliet Tassi and Kaitlyn Skarecky 2 apiece for the Redhawks (2-3).

It was Naperville Central’s third loss in four days after a 10-day layoff over spring break, but Nussbaum was much more pleased with this effort.

“A loss is still a loss,” Nussbaum said, “but I was pleased to see us compete to the end.”