Suffolk Softball Sensations: Noel Lent, Longwood

Noel Lent is as versatile a player as there is on the Longwood softball team for coach Jackie Legnon. Not only does Lent hit for a high average as the starting shortstop, batting .462, with an on-base percentage of .483, a slugging percentage of .827 and an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.310, but the senior also gets it done in the circle.

Lent is currently 5-1 and shares the pitching duties with Samantha Valentine for the defending League I champs, who are battling with Commack (12-1) atop the league standings this season. The Lions are in second place at 12-2, with the help of Lent, who has a fielding percentage of .854, 1.00 ERA, with 31 strikeouts and a .79 WHIP.

"She's just really a hard worker," said Legnon of Lent, a senior and three-year varsity starter. "She keeps the team and herself focused. She will lead the team for you."
Next season, Lent will do her best to lead Seton Hall University, where she will be committed to playing the shortstop position for the Pirates' ball club, or as she better put it, “as long as I’m on the field, I’m happy.”

"She knows exactly what needs to be done," Legnon said. "It's a blessing for a coach. She's not satisfied. If we're taking ground balls at practice, she always says, 'Give me another one'. She has that drive to always do her best."

After practice yesterday, Lent answered some easy questions that made her laugh at times, while giving some more in-depth analysis to how she approaches the game on a day-in, day-out basis for Legnon and company.

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*Lent's three-run homer and Valentine's 6 2/3 innings of scoreless pitching in relief helped second-seeded Longwood (20-1) best No. 11 Connetquot, 10-6, in a Suffolk Class AA semifinal on May 26, 2012.