Teams can pick their poison against Benet this season, between No. 3 hitter Stephanie Abello and No. 4 hitter Emily York.
That choice becomes more complicated if Benet’s fifth-through-seventh hitters can do what they did Monday.
Abello and York each had two hits, but it was two hits apiece from Megan Stoppleman and Brooklyn Baccega plus a two-run double from Meagan McCormick that helped carry Benet to an 8-7 win at Neuqua Valley.
“I was proud of my kids. People try to pitch around (Abello) and (York) and they can’t do that,” Benet coach Jerry Schilf said. “If those kids in the middle of the order hit like they did today, we’re going to do great.
“We have to keep working to get to point where people can’t pitch around (Abello).”
A scoreless game through two innings gave way to a two-out, two-run home run from Abello and an RBI-single from Baccega in the third. It was Abello’s fifth homer in only three games this year, giving her 53 for her career — one away from the state record.
“We weren’t planning on pitching to (Abello) at all,” Neuqua Valley coach Laura McCarthy said. “She hit pitches that weren’t close to the strike zone and they have her well protected with another strong hitter behind her, which makes it difficult.”
Neuqua Valley (1-4) outhit Benet (3-0) by a 10-9 margin and had a 4-3 lead after three innings, thanks to an RBI single from Danielle Olson and a two-run double from Domenica Lange.
Freshman catcher Olson went 4-for-4 and Lange had three hits for the Wildcats.
“She’s fantastic, isn’t she?” Neuqua senior Jenny Budds said of Olson. “We saw her at summer camps and she’s amazing. I’m very excited to have her on the team this year.”
Benet took a 5-4 lead in the fifth on McCormick’s double, but Neuqua tied the game in the bottom of the fifth when Budds scored from third on a throw to second that failed to get Olson stealing.
Stoppleman then rose to the occasion, striking out two batters with runners on first and second to retire the side.
“I know we have the senior leadership to make it through. I was trying to throw my pitches and keep the ball down,” Stoppelman said. “They have very good hitters and they’re a solid team. We were lucky to finish it out like we did.”
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Benet’s three-run seventh inning featured RBI singles from Stoppelman and Baccega. Neuqua Valley got RBI singles in its final at-bat from Ary DiBernardo and Julia Rainer before senior catcher Abello picked a runner off of first base and Stoppelman got a groundout to end the game.
“We’re young and we’ll make mistakes, like we did today,” Schilf said. “But this was the best team we’ve played so far and it was nice to be able to hang on and win.”
McCarthy believes her team is far better than its record through five games.
“In every game we’ve played, we’re hitting and scoring in the seventh inning,” McCarthy said. “As long as we’re doing that I feel pretty confident in what we’ll be able to do.”
Gary Larsen is a freelance writer.