Joscelyn Bennett and Briella Sendele were teammates for eight summers on a Stateline Fury travel team and played four years together on the Hononegah Indians.
Last weekend, the college freshmen were wearing different uniforms as they competed in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II Region 4 tournament at Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill.
It could have been a little more awkward. At least their teams didn’t square off.
In fact, both survived and moved on to the NJCAA D-II National Softball Championships in Spartanburg, S.C, on May 20-25. Sendele’s Rock Valley College team (31-13) won the Region 4 championship and Bennett’s Bryant & Stratton squad (39-6) took the consolation title to also punch its ticket to the championships.
“A lot of people call it the D-II World Series,” Bennett said. “Whatever they call it, we’re just happy to be playing in it.”
Bennett said she would have been fine with facing off against her old teammate. They had actually played against each other during the regular season in Rockford, splitting a doubleheader on April 21. Another ex-Stateline Fury Premier member, Trinity Mesch from South Beloit, is also on the RVC team but has been injured and unable to pitch.
“They’re my best friends off the field,” Bennett said. “Playing them I just focus on the game and think of them as another opponent. After the game, we’re back to being friends.”
They’ll have an opportunity for another reunion in South Carolina at Tyger River Park. Rock Valley plays Lake Michigan College (29-15) at 11 a.m. EDT and Bryant & Stratton plays Louisburg College (52-6) at 3 p.m. EDT.
Both Bennett and Sendele came off stellar high school senior seasons and a final season with the 18U Fury. But Bennett didn’t have much of a chance to impress her coaches last fall. She missed most of the season due to mononucleosis.
“My spleen was inflamed so I had to sit out October and November (fall ball),” she said. “I was worried about the spring because the other infielders they had were working really hard. I knew in practice, I had to push myself to my limits to make sure I had a chance to be a starter. That was my main goal, to help the team any way I can.”
She found herself at a new position, third base, after playing mainly shortstop in the past.
“This is the first time I’ve played third and it was different,” she said. “I’d played right next to the third baseman, but I had to get used to playing so close to the batter. I remember the first time I expected a batter to sacrifice bunt and they swung away and hit a hard grounder at me. Yeah, that was something I had to adjust to. You just go out and do what you gotta do.”
At the plate, she fell right into line on a hard-hitting team. A former leadoff hitter, she is hitting fifth in the Bryant & Stratton lineup. She is among the team leaders in batting average (.459), runs (40), RBIs (43), homers (6) and stolen bases (14). She leads the team in slugging percent (.836), doubles (17) and overall extra base hits (25).
“Hitting was a struggle at first, but I have worked on some things in my swing and my coaches helped me adjust,” Bennett said. “I’m pretty happy with the way my hitting is going and hopefully I keep getting more consistent with line drives.”
Bryant & Stratton expected to be successful this season and didn’t let an 8-5 loss in their regional opener stop them. They regrouped and beat Madison 10-1 and then edged Kankakee 3-0 for the consolation crown..
“We thought we had a good team and while we had some ups and downs, I think we’re playing now like the team we expected we’d be,” Bennett said. “My expectations were for this to happen.”
Sendele starts in right field for the Golden Eagles. She was 1-for-3 with two runs scored as RVC beat Kankakee 8-2 for the Region 4 title. She also was 2-for-5 in a 4-3 semifinal win over Madison College in 14 innings and earned all-tournament honors.
“Before the tournament I was in a little bit of a slump, but in the tournament I was able to turn it around and really play with a lot of confidence,” Sendele said. “I got a lot of action in right field and I hit the ball well.”
The Golden Eagles were dealt a blow in the fall when former SoBo standout Mesch required wrist surgery and was lost for the season.
“She pitched a couple of games in the fall against D-1 teams and was amazing, but then she needed the (wrist) surgery,” Sendele said. “Trin would have been a big asset on our pitching staff, but fortunately, we were deep enough to win without her.”
Sendele said her biggest transition was moving to right from center.
“You have to get used to the spin on the ball in right,” she said. “Usually a ball to center is squared up and there isn’t a lot of movement on it. In right, the ball can tail a lot. I was able to work a lot with (assistant coach) DJ (Johnson) and I think I’m so much better now.”
The Golden Eagles started a bit slow, facing some tough competition early.
“We were playing great competition,” Sendele said. “Our coach (Darin Monroe) wanted us to be ready for this moment. I feel like he did a great job preparing us for the national tournament because we’ve already played a lot of the higher ranked teams and while we didn’t win all the time we played good games.”
Sendele said RVC’s defense has been solid and the team can swing the bats.
“Our lineup is deep and there aren’t any weaknesses,” she said.
Sendele is hitting .290 with two homers, 30 runs scored and 24 RBIs. She has 13 doubles and four steals.
She is looking forward to the final chapter of this season, but will be sad to see it end.
“This first year of college ball you really learn to love the game,” she said. “It’s a part of your everyday life. I have gotten so much closer with all the girls and we’re like one big family.”
Both Bennett and Sendele plan on returning to their respective teams next season, then hope they land a scholarship at a four-year school after that. Bennett will leave June 13 to play for the Mankato (Minn.) Habaneros in the new Northwoods Softball League while Sendele plans on doing a lot of personal workouts and hit every day.
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