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Softball: Glenbard North holds on against Benet

Kayla Quanstrum helped Glenbard North start quickly, and fortunately for the Panthers she also helped them finish strong.

The Glenbard North catcher singled in the softball game's first run as the visitors jumped ahead of Benet 3-0 in the first inning Tuesday in Lisle. After 3½ innings Quanstrum had scored three times and the Panthers had built a 10-0 lead. But she was not done with her huge day at the plate - adding a home run in the sixth and a double in the seventh - and her 5 runs scored were much needed when the Redwings fought back before falling 15-13.

"It's great to jump ahead. It makes everyone feel nice and relaxed and comfortable to play and hit the ball hard," said Quanstrum, who went 4-for-4 and also was hit by a pitch. "And we didn't let it (Benet's comeback) affect us. We just kept swinging the bats hard."

Glenbard North pounded out 17 hits and led 14-5 in the sixth, but the home team kept battling back. After 4 runs in the sixth and 4 more in the seventh, it was a 15-13 game. The Redwings had the winning run at the plate when Elena Stevenson lined out to Panthers third baseman Kaitlyn Scheitler with two runners on.

"They didn't quit," said Benet coach Jerry Schilf, whose team did rally from a 10-0 deficit last spring to defeat Joliet Catholic. "To our girls' credit they didn't quit. We were down 10-0 and we lose by two runs and we had a chance to win."

The Panthers, now 3-3, led 3-0 in the first following a triple to right by Scheitler that scored Quanstrum with the first of her 5 runs. An error and walk in the third set the stage for Heather Anderson's 2-run single. When the Panthers batted around in the fourth, the lead jumped to 10-0. Scheitler, who went 3-for-4 with a sacrifice fly and 4 RBI, drove home two runs in the big inning.

But after Panthers starter Gabby Melchiorre worked out of a couple jams to blank Benet for three innings, the Redwings came back to life with a 5-run fourth. The comeback started with a double by Nina Hulet and was capped by a 3-run home run off the bat of Brooklyn Baccega.

But Glenbard North tacked on four runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh to hold off Benet's late rally.

"On a cold day we didn't know what to expect offensively and they came out and attacked the whole time," Panthers coach Josh Sanew said. "You got yourself two good leads there, 10-0 and 14-5, and we sort of went through the motions defensively. We let some plays here or there get through and we threw the ball around a little bit."

The Benet bats recorded 13 hits before falling just short of winning in the first game at the school's new softball facility.

"A good offensive team like them, they can always hit the ball," Sanew said of Benet (0-2). "So you've got to keep the pressure up and keep scoring. There's no lead ever safe on them, that's for sure from the years we've been playing them."

For Melchiorre, it was frustrating to see the Redwings eat away at two big leads, but the end result is what mattered most.

"It felt good to come out here and finish the game through the bad weather and we still came out with a 'W'," she said.

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