Softball: Neuqua Valley gives itself plenty of reasons to dance

During warmups and between innings, the Neuqua Valley softball team tends to flash a lot of smiles and dance around to music.

That shouldn't really come as a surprise. It's easy to look and act happy when everything's going well, and this spring the Wildcats have had plenty to smile about.

Thursday afternoon at Benet, Neuqua Valley's Zoe Herdman blasted a grand slam in a 5-run first inning and pitcher Delaney Molnar danced her way to a relaxing, 5-inning, 15-3 victory.

"It is super nice. We have a very good offense," said Molnar, who improved to 2-1 after her team provided her with plenty of support, both at the plate and in the field. "When we're pitching well and the offense is good we know it's going to be a good game. When there's a big lead it's really easy to relax and trust my defense."

With Herdman anchoring a solid defense at shortstop and also belting her fifth and sixth homers of the spring, Neuqua Valley bounced back well from Tuesday's one-sided loss to Plainfield North.

"It's definitely helpful when the start of our lineup is so strong and they can get on right away," said Herdman, who has a pair of grand slams this season. "Everyone just comes together in our lineup. It's really strong all the way through. We had a really solid game today all the way around."

Leadoff hitter Mikaela Domico singled off Redwings starter Bridget Linders to start the game, and the next four batters reached safely, including Herdman's slam over the wall in left field. Second baseman Carina Martinez followed Domico's walk with a double and finished the day 3-for-4 with a pair of extra-base hits and 3 RBI.

Then there was Abby Meeks, who ripped her sixth home run of the year, a liner that left the park in a hurry in the second inning as the Wildcats tacked on four runs for a 9-1 lead. The slugging first baseman put down a perfect bunt in the first inning that set the stage for Herdman's grand slam.

"I think it's really good for us going right from our warm-ups straight into the game, and we always have our music playing and everybody's always hyped up," Meeks said. "It's easy for us to connect that right up going onto the field."

Meeks said the win in Lisle helped put Tuesday's setback in the rearview mirror and prepare the team to resume DuPage Valley Conference play where they're 4-0.

"Coming back from a big loss on Tuesday this really got our mojo back," she said. "This will be really good for us to go back into conference tomorrow."

For the 1-5 Redwings, there were some good signs on offense, but the powerful Wildcats were too much for the young team to contain. Benet highlights included a pair of RBI doubles from Kate Christensen and Elena Stevenson's home run to lead off the fifth.

"They hit the ball well," Benet coach Jerry Schilf said of the Wildcats. "But this is only our sixth game of the season. We haven't played a lot the last month. We're capable. We need to get better and our goal is to get better every day and find positives and prepare for the regional."