York hits 3 home runs in Benet's bounce-back win
The Benet softball team was in a mood to put its first loss of the season behind it in a big way on Wednesday.
Host Wheaton North felt the brunt of that determination in a 15-4 Redwings win in Wheaton.
Benet (6-1) came out swinging and finished with five home runs, three coming from Emily York.
A day earlier Glenbard North had put the first number in the Redwings' loss column with a 6-2 victory.
"The loss to Glenbard North showed that we had to pick up our game and that we just couldn't cruise by," York said.
York hit a two-run shot in the first and solo homers each in the fourth and seventh. The first two homers came with an 0-2 count.
"With an 0-2 count you have to be a lot more focused on where the ball will be and you have to swing at anything close in the strike zone," York, who has 4 home runs on the season, said.
Steph Abello followed York's homer in the first with one of her own to put Benet up 3-0.
The Redwings made it 9-0 in the second on just one hit, Marissa Panko's RBI double. A fielding error, two walks and a sacrifice fly by Megan Stoppelman were the keys to Benet's success that inning.
The hot bats continued for Benet in the fourth with four runs scored. In addition to York's second blast, Jessica Brown hit her first varsity home run, a three-run shot.
"The pitch was more inside that the first couple. I just took a swing at it," she said.
Stoppelman was the winning pitcher, going five innings. Molly Moran finished up in relief and surrendered just one hit.
"It was a good way to bounce back. We hit the ball better than yesterday," said Benet coach Jerry Schilf. "And Wheaton North battled."
The Falcons (1-6) did indeed not go away despite Benet's huge lead. They scored twice in the fourth and fifth innings, fighting off the game ending early on the 10-run rule.
Kelly Thornton led off the fourth with a home run. Kat Meyer followed with a single to left and later scored on a Jessalyn Kieta's RBI groundball out.
In the fifth Thornton's single to right and a fielding error on the same play scored Maggie Will and Hadley Pfalzgraf, who each reached on singles.
Will made two spectacular running catches in center field in the fourth and sixth. The sixth-inning catch left Benet runners on first and second.
"We have to start out more intense from the get-go," said Falcons coach Danielle Soraghan. "This is a great team, but they have to show it every day. What I especially liked is they didn't throw in the towel and kept their heads up."