BENTON – The Benton Rangerettes had another remarkable night behind the plate, as they pounced on the 4A Mundelein Mustangs 11-5. Coming off a loss on the road to Wayne City, this victory brought Benton’s record back to an even 4-4 mark.
For the Mustangs, who made the long drive down from the Chicago area, this was the second game of their double-header afternoon, as they were fresh off a dominating victory against the Centralia Orphan Annies.
This game marked the second time in one week that every single Rangerette that stepped up to the plate had at least one hit. Even more impressive was that Benton had five batters with two or more hits, and also five batters who hit with runners in scoring position for RBIs. Benton forced the Mustangs to go through three separate pitchers.
You could tell it was going to be one of those games early on, as the Rangerettes completely batted around in the first inning, going up 5-0 and forcing the Mustangs to retire their starting pitcher Nicole Parney for Breanna Adams, while Taylor Mosley sat down the first three Mustang batters in order in the top of the inning.
The Mustangs got one run back in the second thanks to a stolen base earlier in the inning, and an RBI single by Adams. Mundelein would try their luck on the basepaths again in the third, but this time Cristen Shaw was waiting for them, and promptly threw out the steal attempt. The next at bat saw Shaw lunge out to catch a foul pop-up to record the second out of the inning. She nearly threw the third out of the inning to third base, but did not get the call to go in her favor.
The Mustangs made a surge to score two runs in both the fourth and fifth inning due to some sloppy defense by Benton, who wound up with five errors in the game. Thankfully, the Rangerettes bats were still red hot as they got back all four runs, plus one more in their part of the fourth and fifth innings. Benton would tack on a final run in the sixth, as Mundelein brought in their third pitcher of the night in Annie Morelli. After this, Mosley made quick work of Mundelein batters in the top of the seventh to give Benton the win.
Lindsey Seidel and Ally Gischer were both 2-for-4, and both had RBI doubles in the game. Lacey Jerkins was also 2-for-4 in the game, as was Shaw who had single, a double and also reached on an error. Winning pitcher Taylor Mosley also went 2-for-4 and drove in an RBI in the game. Aubrey Hunter was 1-for-3, and also walked and drove in two RBIs.
Eb Casey battled through a cold, and on her birthday no less, to go 1-for-4 including one RBI. The birthday girl also reached on an error and a fielder’s choice. Also getting hits for Benton were Mallory Shrews, Lauren Zinzilieta.
“It was an exciting game. We started off with a pretty hot first inning,” said Benton coach Sarah Stowers. “We saw three different pitchers tonight, and were able to make some key adjustments and keep the bat on the ball. Kudos to them for trying to mix it up by having three pitchers, but we were able to string some hits along and keep the ball in play.”
Stowers also complimented Mosley for doing a solid job on the mound, and staying ahead in the count. Stowers was thrilled with the hitting exploits of her team, and cited it as the key for the win.
