Boudreau, Neuqua rally for win

Updated: May 10, 2011 10:20PM

Neuqua Valley pitcher Jena Boudreau didn’t frown and hang it up after her summer softball teammate, Waubonsie Valley’s Katie Benson, hit a grand slam off her Tuesday. Instead, Boudreau’s bat in the final two innings sparked the Wildcats in the rivalry contest in Aurora.

After four lead changes, Neuqua Valley was able to hang on and beat the Warriors 8-6 in an Upstate Eight Valley game.

“Jena has been clutch in that situation all year,” Neuqua Valley coach Melissa Wilson said. “She is batting in the No. 3 spot for a reason. She’s doing a fantastic job hitting. I’m sure being a pitcher and working her butt off out there, she’s been pitching great games. To know that she has that control out there to go in and to help get runs for us, she really capitalizes on that well. I’m so proud of her for that.”

“After that home run, I just wanted to get up to bat and hit,” Boudreau added. “That was it, that was my biggest thing. I was pitching well, but once that grand slam came, I was done. I was getting a hit.”

With Waubonsie Valley leading 6-4 after the fifth inning, Boudreau hit a two-out single in the top of the sixth. Then Leigh Nebendahl singled. An RBI double from Brooke Meyer, followed by a two-RBI single from Megan Childs, pushed the Wildcats up 7-6.

“(Childs) really did it today,” Wilson said. “I’m so proud of her. As a sophomore, stepping up like that in a high-pressure situation, her hit meant a possible win for us. I’m impressed with her. She’s so positive and energetic when she goes in there.”

In the seventh, Boudreau’s two-out RBI single, which allowed Kat Widup to score after she singled, gave Neuqua Valley (12-5, 8-4) an insurance run.

Prior to all of Neuqua Valley’s later-inning action, Waubonsie Valley’s big inning was the fifth. Trailing 4-2 with the bases loaded, Benson, who spent a little more than half of the season with knee problems, smashed her two-out grand slam over the right field fence. It put the Warriors ahead 6-4 — their first lead since 2-1 after the first inning.

“It was tough having (Benson) out because we knew what kind of power and strength she has,” Waubonsie Valley coach Aly Kelley said. “In the past couple of games, it’s been a mental issue. I told her today to get everything out of her head, see ball, hit ball, that’s all...but (the grand slam) was huge. She came through big for us.”

Neuqua Valley scored first in the first on an RBI double from Meyer. After Waubonsie Valley (9-15, 7-8) responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning on a Wildcat error and an RBI single from Erin Hohman, the game was tied in the top of the second on an RBI from Rebecca Lincoln. Katie Lelek gave the Wildcats the 4-2 advantage in the top of the fifth with her two RBI single.

“Overall, it was a tough game for us to lose,” Kelley said. “We played and did the best we could, but we didn’t come out on top. But it was a good friendly game.”

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