New Hampton girls fall to top-ranked Benton Community
New Hampton's tournament run ended Monday night, 10-1 at the hands of top-ranked Benton Community in a game held at Van Horne. The Chickasaws jumped out to a 1-0 lead as Jessie Crooks ripped the third pitch of the game for a home run, but that would be the only hit the NH girls would be able to get on the night."We got off to a good start, put the bat on the ball, we were thinking if Benton makes a few mistakes, we get a few more hits, we have a shot," said coach Jack Seelhammer. "This Benton girl strikes out a lot of batters, we knew coming in we were going to be facing one of the best pitchers in the state."In all, the Chickasaws were saddled with 16 strikeouts.Benton Community advances to the state tourney with a record of 40-2 while the season ends for New Hampton at 18-19.