Athletes of the week: Benilde-St. Margaret's pitcher bruised, still quite a batter as team reaches state

The senior pitcher led the Red Knights to the first state tournament berth in the team's 42-year history, pitching a shutout and going 2-for-4 with two runs scored from her leadoff postion in a 7-0 victory over Orono in the Class 3A, Section 6 final.

Just three weeks ago, Benilde-St. Margaret's coach Adrian Wagner was convinced it wouldn't happen.

On May 16, Johnson damaged a tendon in her pitching hand when she was stepped on while stealing a base.

"It was purple and swollen," Wagner said. "We had to shut her down. I think we all thought it killed our season."

An MRI revealed a sprain and bad bone bruise ,with the cure being rest. But eight days later, in the first round of the section tournament, Johnson pitched in an 11-0 victory over Minneapolis South.

"She struck out two batters in the first inning and led off with a home run," Wagner said. "We all thought 'Whoa, Lilly's back. And we've got a chance.'And it was like the whole team got a little extra motivation."

The Red Knights will play Mahtomedi in the Class 3A quarterfinals Thursday in Mankato.

The junior was a tough out in leading the Cougars, a team comprised of players from Centennial and Spring Lake Park, to the cognitively impaired division state championship. In three games, Bengtson went 11-for-12 with 11 RBI.

The junior is getting accustomed to sweeping her events at track meets. She won all four of her events – 100 meters, 4x100 relay, long jump and triple jump – at the Class 2A, Section 5 meet. She did the same thing at the Class 3A True Team meet on May 20.

One week after winning all three of his matches at No. 1 singles to lift the Hornets to the Class 2A, Section 6 team championship, the senior ignored his No. 3 seed in the section singles tournament and went 4-0 en route to the singles championship.

The senior went out on the first day of the Class 3A, Section 7 golf meet at Grand National Golf Club in Hinckley and make eight birdies en route to meet record 7-under 65. He shot a 76 the next day to win the meet with a 3-under total of 141.

The Trojans won the Class 2A, Section 6 team title with Stauber, a senior, finishing with three first-place medals. Stauber won the 800 meters in a meet record 2:07.65, paced the winning 4x200 relay and anchored the winning 4x400 relay.