L-Way Central makes believers

Updated: May 2, 2011 10:13PM

Two weeks ago it was unranked Homewood-Flossmoor wreaking havoc on the Southland rankings, beating then-No. 5 Lockport and No. 1 Lincoln-Way East on consecutive days.

Last week, unranked Lincoln-Way Central did the Lady Vikings one better.

On Monday, the Knights defeated then-No. 10 Lockport 5-1 behind two home runs by Kylie Bennett. On Friday, Bennett hit another round-tripper and Kaleigh Barrett added two hits in an 8-3 victory over No. 8 H-F. On Saturday, Bennett whacked her fourth homer of the week in a 3-2 win over No. 1 Lincoln-Way East.

Guess who’s not unranked anymore?

“Well, thank you very much,” Knights coach Steve Paulsen said. “We’re very, very young. I think I said in the preseason that we needed our young kids to buy into the system and mature, the faster the better. And they’ve done a great job the last couple of weeks.

The win over Lincoln-Way East improved the Knights to 8-7 overall, 3-2 in the SouthWest Suburban Blue.

Bennett has been one of the area’s biggest surprises. Entering the week the junior first baseman was hitting .620, with eight homers.

“I asked her the other day, ‘So, does it look like a beachball when it comes up there?’ And she said, ‘Sometimes it really does,’ ” Paulsen said. “I didn’t think anyone was going to hit one against Lockport the way the wind was blowing (in), but she just crushed it.”

Bennett is the No. 3 hitter in what has been a productive top four in the order.

“Kaleigh Barrett is our leadoff batter and she really does a great job setting the table by getting on base,” Paulsen said. “Gabby Boerema has done a nice job in the two spot either sacrificing or moving runners around.

“The best part is (opposing pitchers) have to throw to Kylie. If they don’t throw to Kylie, that means Taylor Schroeder, in the No. 4 spot, is going to put the bat on the ball. We’ve got some kids who in the last two weeks have really stepped up.”

Sudden success hasn’t come with a sudden loss of focus.

“You know what? You wouldn’t notice any difference,” Paulsen said. “They really have this nice approach to take things one day at a time. That’s one thing we’ve really emphasized to them, to go one day at a time. If you don’t, any team can beat anybody.”

Swinging away

Marist’s Brooke Wyderski has hit in several spots in the order for Marist this season.

Her favorite spot?

“Anywhere,” she said. “I like whatever. I don’t care.”

Saturday, she hit the ball everywhere for the RedHawks in a 9-0 win over Nazareth. The freshman third baseman socked three home rs and finished with six RBI.

“Two of them were line drives, literally, like rockets over the right field fence,” Marist coach Denise Bromberek said. “They were not mistakes by any means.”

Marist, meanwhile, is on a 9-1 roll after a 4-5 start saw them slip from some preseason rankings.

“We’re doing well,” Bromberek said. “I like that everyone is underestimating us. That’s the way I like it.”

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