After losing their home opener to Tuscola by slaughter rule (18-0), the Benton Rangerettes (1-3) hosted the Benton 4-way Saturday afternoon, hoping for redemption on their home diamond.
Participating with Benton in the competition were the Zeigler-Royalton-Christopher (ZRC) Tornadoes, the Trico Lady Warriors and Tuscola.
The Rangerettes started the day off on the right track, beating ZRC by slaughter rule (12-1) and then closing the day with a 14-3 loss to Trico.
"The girls came out this morning, I would say a little embarrassed about our performance last night," said Ryan Miller, Rangerettes' coach. "They came out with a lot more focus. They hit the ball well, played great defense behind our freshman Kiley Carter who also pitched really well for us."
Carter stepped to the mound for game one against the Tornadoes. She gave up one run in the first inning, but the Rangerettes tallied their own run in the bottom of the inning. The point came when Ally Gischer was walked; she made it all the way home after Courtney Reno grounded out to first base.
In the second, Carter struck out one batter while her defense took care of the remaining two outs. The home team went to work, scoring four runs in the second. Zoe Carlton got on first after being hit by a pitch and then Gischer was walked again. The bases were loaded after Reno was walked as well. This brought up sophomore Lacey Jerkins who blasted an RBI base hit into left field--bringing Carlton and Gischer across home plate.
Still with two runners on base, junior Lindsey Seidel took her turn at the plate and hit an RBI base hit to shallow center field--this brought around Reno and Jerkins.
The Tornadoes again sent only three hitters to the plate in the third inning where Carter and her team remained solid defensively.
In the bottom of the inning, the Tornadoes swapped out pitchers, but the home team again scored four runs.
With Carlton, junior Baylie Sawyer and Carter on base, Gischer popped a line drive double into center field for a two run RBI. Reno brought Carter home, but was called out at first base. Then, after a wild pitch, Gischer stole home to finish the scoring that inning.
The Rangerettes continued to charge in the fourth inning as Carlton hit an RBI single to bring in one run and then another wild pitch led to junior McKenzie Johnson stealing home. Carter brought her team's total to 12 points with an RBI single into center field.
Carter struck out one batter in the top of the fifth and her defense took care of the rest to end the game for the Tornadoes after five innings.
"We had good at bats," Miller said. "As the game went on we hit the ball solid and got the runners around."
Next, the Rangerettes took on Trico, but their bats were not as efficient and the home team took another loss (14-3) on their home diamond.
