Metea Valley senior pitcher Charlie Benesh inherited a love of music from her parents.
Benesh’s father, Edward, was a percussionist, and her mother, Steph, was a violinist when they were in high school. Benesh’s instrument of choice is the cello, which she began playing in sixth grade. She plays it in the chamber strings, the highest-level orchestra at Metea Valley.
“I really like the sound,” Benesh said. “It’s such a wholesome sound. It sounds very rich compared to a lot of other instruments that I’ve heard.”
Metea Valley senior catcher Sydney Eakin knows all about creating good sounds. She plays the alto saxophone in the school band and has been accepted into the marching band at Wisconsin-Eau Claire.
But one of Eakin’s favorite sounds is the pop that Benesh’s pitches make when they land in her mitt.
“I’ve caught her all four years, and I’ve just seen her grow as a pitcher throughout those,” Eakin said. “She battled through some injuries sophomore year, and she’s gained back the speed and has a good mix of pitches to keep batters on their toes. We have a lot to work with.”
Indeed, Benesh is primed to be better than ever as she enters her third varsity season. The Salem State commit posted a 15-7 record and a 3.58 ERA with 90 strikeouts in 128 innings last season, when the Mustangs (16-13, 11-4) won the DuPage Valley Conference regular-season and conference tournament titles.
“She keeps us in every game just with her competitiveness, and all her stuff is really good,” Metea Valley coach Michaela Paprota said. “We can rely on her not only on the field, but she makes us better here in practice, which is awesome.
“I tell my girls, ‘You are lucky. You get to practice off of her and get the reps off of her and get better, but then you don’t have to face her in a game.’ It’s a win-win for us.”
Benesh has a history of winning big games. As a sophomore, she threw a shutout as the Mustangs upset Naperville North in the Class 4A regional semifinals. Last season, Benesh won both games in the DVC Tournament.
“I like pitching under pressure,” she said. “It helps me get the adrenaline running, and I feel like it’s high-energy, high-stakes, and it keeps our team high-energy.”
Benesh gets her pitching ability and affinity for pressure from her father, who pitched in the minor leagues for the Tampa Bay Rays after he graduated from South Carolina. It has allowed her to balance her commitments to music and sports.
“It’s a lot of discipline and individual work that we have to do to maintain expectations,” Benesh said of orchestra. “We play four or five concerts a year.
“I try to focus on softball when I’m here at practice, and then I obviously do my individual work at home. Then we practice every day in school because it is a class. It balances itself out.”
Benesh does both activities while maintaining a 4.2 GPA. She and Eakin are three-time academic all-conference honorees and feel their musical and athletic talents mesh well.
“We have a good connection, as any pitcher and catcher should have,” Eakin said. “We know what each other wants, and I feel like over the four years I’ve really been able to build up that connection.
“If something is off, we’re a good team to work it out. If one at-bat goes wrong, we’re able to bounce right back.”
The Mustangs are hoping to repeat their success from last season in the conference and hope it carries over into the playoffs, while Benesh figures to graduate as one of the top pitchers in Metea Valley history. She needs five wins to become the program’s all-time leader and ranks second in career strikeouts and ERA.
“I hope we’ll pick up right where we left off last season,” Eakin said. “She’s only made improvements since then. I feel like we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with. Everyone is going to want to come after us, and that’s mainly because of her and her pitching.”
Benesh has not decided whether she will continue playing the cello in college, saying softball will be her main priority. But she’s comfortable performing in the limelight in both orchestra and softball.
“Music and sports, you’re working with a team,” she said. “Both have an audience, so it kind of goes hand in hand.”
Matt Le Cren is a freelance reporter.
