Rangers earn victory on senior night to finish regular season with 25-6 record
By Amanda Jarzynski
ajarzynski@bentoneveningnews.com
The Benton Rangers (26-6) honored their four seniors--Oliver Davis, Tyson Houghland, Derek Oxford and Bryden Picklesimer--Friday before their last home game of the regular season which was played against the Vienna Eagles.
Head coach Brett Blondi said that all four of the seniors will be greatly missed when they have moved on from Benton Consolidated High School.
"All four of them are great kids and they bring some different things baseball wise," Blondi said of his seniors. "One the field, off the field they do a lot of great things. We're going to miss them, but we want to enjoy however much time we have left and then it'll be time to get ready for a new group. All four have had amazing high school careers."
After the ceremony, the Rangers went to work on the field and earned a 5-2 victory over the Eagles.
"It was lacking intensity… defensively we were really comfortable," Blondi said. "We scored a couple early and didn't have a sense of urgency offensively. I'm happy we came away with a win."
They got off to a fast start, earning two runs in the bottom of the first inning thanks to an RBI base hit by junior Hamilton Page, bringing home Oxford and Houghland who were both walked.
The Rangers earned one more run in the second inning after loading the bases. Picklesimer came to the plate, but was hit by a pitch which brought home Gehrig Wynn.
Page started on the mound for the home team and he held off the Eagles with help from his teammates in the field. He pitched for five innings before moving to short stop and bringing Oxford to the mound for the last two innings.
The Eagles earned their first run in the fifth inning, but the Rangers responded with one of their own. After hitting a base hit to left field, Houghland stole his way around to third base. Then, the Eagles pitcher was called for a balk and Houghland scampered home.
The final Rangers run came in the sixth inning thanks to Wynn who brought home Parker Williams on an RBI double to left field.
Down by four runs (5-1) the Eagles kicked up their game and earned their second run of the game off of a solo home run. But the Rangers responded with strength behind Oxford and the game ended when sophomore Braden Summers made a diving catch in right field for the final out.
"We feel like he was varsity ready defensively," Blondi said of Summers. "We had an opportunity to play him in the outfield the last few games. He's fast and plays really hard… we gave him a chance and in terms of expectations, this is what we expected.
"Braden is a guy we know we'll need in the next few years so for him to make that play to end the game is really good for him."
The next day, the Rangers traveled to Campbell Hill where they defeated the Trico Pioneers 9-7 in their final game of the regular season.
Next, the Rangers compete in the IHSA Class 2A Harrisburg Regionals. They will play game one on Wednesday at 4 p.m. against the winner of a game between Johnston City and Eldorado.
