FAIRFIELD - As Casey Kasem used to say, "The hits just keep on coming."
The shell-shocked Mules were definitely relieved to see Lacey Jerkins and the rest of the Rangerettes board the bus headed back to BCHS after Monday's game in which Benton pulverized the big yellow ball with 12 hits, including two home runs from the aforementioned freshman centerfielder. Spurred on by this offensive barrage, the Rangerettes defeated the Mules 5-3 in this seven inning contest.
Aside from Jerkins' two home runs, Benton also received hits from Ally Gischer, Aubrey Hunter, Cristen Shaw, Lindsey Seidel, Taylor Mosley, Ebriessa Casey, Mallory Shreves and Baylee Sawyer. In fact, every single Rangerette who stepped up to the plate Monday scored at least one hit in the game. Jerkins and Casey both had multi-hit games with Casey going a perfect 3-for-3, including a double in the second inning in which she later came around to score.
The Mules also had a few bright spots offensively. Fairfield’s Christina Walker also went 3-for-3, including a triple, and would have needed only a home run to have completed the cycle. Morgan Gregory and Savannah Barnhart had the other two hits for Fairfield, who compared to Benton’s nine out of nine, had merely three of their nine batters hit successfully in the game.
Surprisingly, the Rangerettes were put away one, two, three in the first inning, but then came back to score two runs off three hits in the second. Benton scored again in the third, fifth, and sixth innings with one run in each. While Coach Sarah Stowers was obviously pleased with the sheer number of hits, she expressed some concern over the number of girls her team left on base. To that point, Benton left six runners stranded in the game, compared to five for the Mules.
"We made some base-running mistakes, but overall we were able to put the bat on the ball. They brought in a different pitcher, and tried to adjust the speed on us, but we were able to make some small adjustments and take advantage," said Stowers.
Mosley, the starting pitcher, held Fairfield to only five hits, and struck-out four of their batters to earn her third victory of the young season. Whitney Baker was the starting pitcher for the Mules. She pitched three innings before being replaced by Katelyn Lambert. It was a rough day on the mound for each of these ladies as the Rangerettes had no strikeouts in the game.
Stowers added, "I feel like we keep improving with each game, with the little things; of course we still have other things that we can work on, but we're really working together well as a team. We're out there trying to play head's up ball, and know what to do with it every time we get the ball, so we've been able to take advantage of some things we normally might not have been able to."
This win brings the Rangerettes record back to even at 3-3 to start off the young campaign. The Rangerettes return home to face Mundelein on Wednesday afternoon at Benton Park.
