Center Point-Urbana snaps Benton’s 49-game divisional win streak

VAN HORNE — It had been a while. A long, long while.

Class 3A ninth-ranked Center Point-Urbana built an 8-0 lead and held off 4A No. 1 Benton Community, 9-7, in the first game of a Wamac Conference West Division softball doubleheader Wednesday night at Benton Community High School.

The outcome ended a 49-game divisional win streak by the Bobcats, a run that encompassed 1,444 days.

'That first game, it felt great,' said CPU's Olivia Brecht, who led off the opener with a home run. 'We knew the outcome would take care of itself if we stuck to what we do best — the fundamentals and the basics.'

Benton bounced back with a vengeance, 15-2 in a three-inning nightcap.

It was a memorable Senior Night for Jaicee Lyons, who homered three times Wednesday, including a grand slam in the Bobcats' 13-run second inning.

'It's very sad,' she said of the Bobcats' final regular-season home game. 'It went by so fast.'

Benton's last divisional defeat was July 8, 2013, a 3-1 win by Vinton-Shellsburg. After falling behind 8-0 in the top of the fifth inning, the Bobcats (25-4, 9-1) almost made it all the way back.

'We've done that quite a bit,' Lyons said. 'It says we never quit fighting, but we need to start hitting before we did tonight.'

CPU (18-6, 6-4) scored three unearned runs in the third inning for a 4-0 lead, then tacked on four tallies in the fifth.

'I wasn't all that surprised. We know what we're capable of,' Brecht said.

Benton got within 8-5 in the bottom of the fifth, and solo homers by Grace Martensen and Lyons made it 9-7 in the seventh before the Bobcats ran out of outs.

The nightcap was tied, 2-2, in the middle of the second before Benton erupted. The Bobcats sent 18 hitters to the plate, collecting eight hits, four of which cleared the fence.

Lyons homered twice in the second game.

'I was 0-for-3 (before homering) in the first game, and I knew I needed to hit the ball hard,' she said. 'The first home run gave me confidence, and it just kept building from there.'

CENTER POINT-URBANA 9-2, BENTON COMMUNITY 7-15

At Van Horne

Game 1

Center Point-Urbana 103 040 1 — 9 8 1

Benton Community 000 050 2 — 7 9 2

Natalea Cook, Alexis Cannon (7) and Taylor Henderson. Anna Stenberg and Jaicee Lyons. W — Cook (5-1). L — Stenberg (14-2). SV — Cannon (1). HR — CPU: Olivia Brecht (4), Reagan Schutte (3), BC: Grace Martensen (4), Lyons (3).

Game 2

Center Point-Urbana 110 — 2 6 1

Benton Community 2(13)x — 15 11 1

Reagan Schutte, Alexis Cannon (2), Natalea Cook (2) and Claire Holtz. Grace Martensen and Jaicee Lyons. W — Martensen (7-2). L — Schutte (4-1). HR — BC: Lyons 2 (5), Alyse Harvey (1), Mallory Thys (3), Angie Gorkow (12).

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