Lexi Benko’s 2-2 pitch narrowly missed.
The junior right-hander’s 3-2 offering didn’t.
Benko’s strikeout put the finishing touches on Chesterton’s 6-2 win against Valparaiso in Thursday’s championship game of the Class 4A Merrillville Sectional.
Benko also had a solo homer and an RBI single. The Indiana State commit retired the last 11 batters she faced.
“It’s hot out, the hottest we’ve had in a while,” Benko said. “You’re just trying to get back in the dugout and keep cool.”
Benko started shakily, allowing a single to Yale recruit Maya Seifert to start the game and a two-out double to Alex Burns that gave the Vikings (14-9) a 1-0 lead.
With Santa Clara recruit Lauren Anderson available, Chesterton coach LouAnn Hopson consulted with catcher Shelby Grimm, a Notre Dame recruit who’s one of six seniors, to get feedback on Benko.
“She trusts me and I trust her,” Grimm said of Benko. “Right off the bat, that first run, we thought it was a fluke. They really weren’t doing much.
“We’re a team that constantly puts the ball in play, we’re always manufacturing runs, so I was confident no matter the deficit, we were going to come back. To win, you have to score a run anyway.”
The Trojans (24-5) batted around in scoring five runs — all unearned — in the third. Chesterton bunted three times, Valparaiso committed four of its six errors, and Benko and Anderson each had an RBI single for the only two hits in the inning.
“If we came out and did three things, we’d have a shot,” Valparaiso coach Tracy Corneil said. “One was have good plate appearances, which we did. Two was stay calm in adverse situations, and we did that. Three, we needed to play good defense, and we didn’t do that.
“We had one bad inning, and they did the right thing — I would’ve done the same thing. We struggled fielding the bunt, and she (Hopson) came at us and made us play it. That’s good coaching, and they’re a very talented team. They do everything well — they play good defense, they hit well and both their pitchers are good.”
Valparaiso scored its second run in the fourth on Peyton Zahm’s single, Emily Glover’s double and Brooke Templin’s sacrifice fly. In Benko’s stretch of 11 straight outs to close the game, only two balls left the infield.
“At the beginning, she was a little wild,” Grimm said of Benko. “But she found her groove and was able to find the weakness of the hitter. That was key.
“When they got a few runners on, in those situations, she was able to strike somebody out or get a pop-up. That was really clutch on her part.”
Benko added a homer to start the fifth.
“After you hit that, the adrenaline is running,” Benko said. “But you just have to shake it off and know you still have to make the next few plays.”
Chesterton swept Duneland Athletic Conference rival Valparaiso during the regular season.
“Like I told the girls, come tournament time, every team steps up their game,” Hopson said. “Valpo, Portage and Hobart did that all three nights.
“All three nights, we had things not go our way at some point. But we stayed calm and did what we had to do.”
Chesterton’s celebration was relatively subdued after winning its second straight sectional title. The Trojans advance to Tuesday’s regional against the winner of the Crown Point Sectional.
“Winning back-to-back years is exciting,” Benko said. “But we have to move on to the next game and that’s regionals.”
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