PENDLETON — The Pendleton Heights softball team may have gotten off to a slow start, but once the bats started swinging, it didn’t stop. The Arabians took down Class 3A No. 5-ranked Lebanon in a 13-3 win April 29 on Legends Field.
“I think the last two games we were a little flat,” coach Rob Davis said. “At Brownsburg, it was late in the game when we decided to put the ball in play, and that’s kind of what we did today.
“We decided, ‘Hey, we better wake up,” Davis said. “To be a great team we have to be ready to go from the first inning.”
Three Tiger doubles and a single put Lebanon on the board with a 3-0 lead in the third inning before the Arabians’ Jayden Brown scored on an Ally Hall single to center.
On the mound for the Arabians, Jordan Benefiel took down the order in the top of the fourth. Benefiel recorded 12 strikeouts for the game with zero walks.
When the Arabians came to bat in the fourth, Chloe Closser’s fly ball over the right field fence for a homerun signaled the start of an offensive attack that eventually took out Tiger starting pitcher Abigail McPherson and reliever Courtney Welborn.
“She (McPherson) did a really great job in the beginning. She kept us off balance,” Davis said. “I thought we didn’t swing at strikes, and then when we did start attacking the ball, you saw what we did.”
Following Closser’s trip around the bases, the Arabians took the lead with three more runs in the inning. Benefiel again struck out the next three Tigers in the fifth inning.
Kieli Ryan’s two-run homer knocked in Closser to score two more for the Arabians. Pendleton Heights took advantage of five singles, a double and two field choices to score eight runs to end the game, when with runners on first and second with only one out, Abbi Pokone hit into a fielders’ choice, scoring Maddie White. The run gave the Arabians the 10-run game-winning edge in the fifth inning.
The Arabians totaled 11 hits for the game with Hall going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Closser and Kylie Davis were 2-for-4, and each netted three RBI.
“We can hit the ball. When we decide to put the ball in play and force you to make plays. It’s come out to our advantage so far,” Davis said.
The win brought the Arabian record to 13-2, with Benefiel recording 10 of those wins. The win over Lebanon was the third in a row for Pendleton Heights. The team recorded victories at Frankton (5-0) April 22 and a win (4-0) at Brownsburg Saturday, April 27.
In this week’s Coaches Poll, the Arabians are ranked fourth in Class 4A. They were set to face Hoosier Heritage Conference foe New Palestine Wednesday, May 1 (after press time), and face another HHC opponent, Mt. Vernon May 2.