BENTON – The Rangerettes cruised to a quick victory Friday, finishing up their seven inning game with a 4-1 victory while the Rangers, who started at the same time, were barely out of the third inning over in the boy’s field.
Those Benton bats were at it again Friday afternoon, as the Rangerettes, for the third time in under a week had a game with eight or more hits against the Lady Bulldogs. After going down in order in the first, and then leaving three runners stranded in the second, Benton came to life in the third. Ally Gischer scored a leadoff hit, followed by a walk by Lacey Jerkins. The Rangerettes manufactured their first run with a stolen base and an RBI bunt single by Aubrey Hunter. Benton kept the pressure on, scoring two more runs in the inning with RBIs by Lindsey Seidel and Taylor Mosley.
The Rangerettes tacked on one more run in the fifth with a second RBI from Seidel, and narrowly missed a shutout victory as Carmi battled back to score their only run of the game in the top of the seventh inning as Madison Wenzel reached and was later driven home by Kaylea Chappelle, after moving into scoring position after the previous batter drew a walk.
For the offensive breakdown, Cristen Shaw went 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored. Lindsey Seidel was 2-for-2 with two RBIs, including a single and a double, and reached once on a fielder’s choice. Aubrey Hunter and Ally Gischer were both 1-for-3 with runs scored, with Hunter driving in a run. Taylor Mosley and Eb Casey were also 1-for-3 with an RBI credited to Mosley. Lacey Jerkins reached on a walk and came around to score in the third.
Defensively, Shaw was once again a key presence behind the plate as she made two vital outs at home plate taking away runs from Carmi, including the game ending out where she put the tag on Mkynna Shaffer who came in charging from third base.
Mosley once again was the winning pitcher giving up only one run and four hits. She also fanned four Carmi batters, and kept up a tremendous pace, finishing innings with very few pitches. For the Bulldogs Chappelle gave a good performance, with seven strikeouts in the game, but the Rangerettes key sluggers were able to get to her early with a big inning in the third to set the pace for the game.
“It seemed like it was a quick one,” said Benton coach Sarah Stowers after the game. She credited the game’s short playing time to good pitching from both Mosley and Chappelle on the other side.
“Chappelle is a great pitcher. She’s gonna play college ball next year as a pitcher. She brings it to the plate, so we tried to jump on it, and that’s what we were able to do. We put the bat on the ball early on.”
Stowers also attributed the speed of the game to how well her girls are coming together as a team.” We’re one of the lucky teams that have played nine games. Most other teams have only played two or three, so we’re coming together pretty good right now,” Stowers added. For the Rangers, this is their second win in a row, and improves their overall record to 5-4.
Making it a 4-0 sweep for the day, the JV Rangerettes won a three inning game against Carmi 1-0 right after the varsity game concluded.
