BENTON — Offense was in the air Tuesday, as the Benton Rangers knocked out the Pleasant Plains Cardinals 11-1 in a dominating victory to improve their overall record to 5-3.
The Rangers went into this one seeking redemption, as Coach Brett Blondi did not mince words about what he felt was a very poor performance in Monday's loss to Mt. Vernon, in which Benton committed four errors in the game and struck out eight times. To that end the Rangers cut their mistake totals in half, and doubled their hit total with 13 base knocks.
The Cardinals fired the opening salvo in the first after Giuseppe Mattera knocked in Cole Greer. Then Derek Oxford tripled to open Benton's half of the first, and was driven in by Dillan Chamness who hammered in a double and later scored as well to put Benton up 2-1. At this point it appeared the game might turn into a back and forth battle, but Benton ended any such notions in their half of the third in which they drove in five runs and completely batted around.
The Rangers tacked on a run in the third, and then two more in the fourth to make it 10-1. Benton had a chance to end the game with the 10-run-rule in the fifth after a double by Chamness, but was unable to capitalize on the opportunity. Pleasant Plains went down in order in the top of the sixth, and then Benton was able to end things after Chamness came through again and drew a bases loaded walk to plate Caleb Rock, who scored the winning run.
"We swung the bats well today," Blondi said after the game. Benton had eight batters hit safely in the game, and the one starting batter who didn't record a hit, Logan Threlkeld, still drew two walks and reached once on an error. "We've had some guys that have been really struggling that got some hits today and got on base. For us to come out and hit the ball as well as we did was really important for us," added Blondi.
Oxford had a banner day with three hits, including an RBI single, double, a triple, and a walk to go 3-for-4 in the game. Oxford also scored two runs. "He can definitely get our offense going. He's a guy that can run the bases well, and gets into scoring position for us," Blondi said of Oxford. Chamness went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Hamilton Page was 2-for-4 with an RBI, and both Cole Richardson and Bryden Pickleshimer had one hit and two RBIs. Rounding out the RBI club for Benton was Tyson Houghland who was 1-for-3 with one RBI.
Pleasant Plains did not have an easy time of it on the mound, going through four pitchers in the game including Mitch Bergmann, who surrendered five hits, and five runs to record the official loss, and Bryan Williams who gave up four hits and three runs. Brady Christensen allowed three hits and two runs, and Colton Carter gave up one hit and walked the winning run.
Page was the winning pitcher for Benton, going strong all six innings, and allowing only one run and five hits in the game. Page fanned four batters, walking only one, and threw 65 total pitches, consisting of 44 strikes, and 21 balls against the 24 Cardinals he faced.
"He's got good stuff and is really athletic, and fields his position pretty well, and makes some nice plays. I'm very comfortable when he's on the mound. He gives us a chance to win," said Blondi of his starting pitcher.
Benton plays Crystal Lake South today at Rent One Park in Marion, and then will match-up with Hamilton County on Saturday in a weekend home game at Eovaldi Field at 11 a.m.
