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Valley finishes 2nd, Lady Zs 3rd in conference
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
From Lauren Duncan’s arm to catcher’s Addison Miller’s glove is where the North Miami softball team’s opponents’ dreams of winning the Three Rivers Conference go to die.
Duncan, a senior right-hander, capped her mastery of the rest of the TRC when she pitched a two-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts against Rochester in a 4-0 win at Fansler Field on May 17.
North Miami went 9-0 in the TRC this year and 27-0 in TRC games in Duncan’s three varsity seasons – her freshman season of 2020 was canceled due to the COVID pandemic, and North Miami won their fourth straight conference title.
Duncan pitched her third shutout in three days. Seven of North Miami’s nine conference wins were Duncan shutouts.
Duncan and Rochester’s Kylie Coleman are travel ball teammates during the summer, so her skill in the circle was not a secret.
“Absolutely everything,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said when asked what impresses him about Duncan. “The kid is well-composed in the circle. She works quick. She hits her spots. She mixes speeds. I’ve had the pleasure of being able to watch her last summer being a teammate of Kylie’s. She’s just a competitor. She works her tail off, and she gives you and leaves everything out in that circle. Just a great kid. She has worked a lot.”
They also denied Rochester their first conference title since 2018. Rochester would have tied North Miami if they had won.
Instead, Rochester finished third with a 7-2 record. Tippecanoe Valley, who beat Manchester 9-0 on May 17, finished in second at 8-1.
Duncan retired the first six batters she faced before Mia Howdeshell’s leadoff single in the third. Then Duncan retired six more batters in a row, including five consecutive strikeouts.
Rochester got their first runner in scoring position in the fifth when Kallie Watson led off with a bunt single, advanced to second on Maddi Heinzmann’s sacrifice bunt and stole third.
Duncan then struck out Howdeshell and retired Mylee Heinzmann on a grounder to third when she tried to bunt her way on to end the inning.
Emma Howdeshell reached on an error with one out in the sixth and took second on Aubrey Miller’s grounder, and Kylie Coleman was also retired on a grounder to third trying to bunt her way on.
Kallie Watson reached on an error with one out in the seventh, but Duncan struck out Maddi Heinzmann for the second out, and Miller threw out Watson trying to steal to start the North Miami celebration.
“It’s almost like she takes it personal that somebody’s on base,” coach Coleman said. “That’s a sign of a true competitor.”
Mia Howdeshell took the loss in the circle, allowing 11 hits and four runs in seven innings. She walked one and struck out none.
She got Ashley Sumpter-Music to fly out to center to strand Reese Hoover on third to end the first inning, but the Lady Warriors got to her for three runs in the second.
Duncan singled, and Miller, who came into the game with a .206 batting average, doubled into the left-center alley to move courtesy runner Victoria Masters to third. Aricyn Hunt’s RBI grounder to short and Madison Goulette’s RBI grounder to second made it 2-0.
Mia Howdeshell then hit Emily Smith with a pitch. Jordyn Hackworth’s infield single moved her to second, and Hoover laced an RBI single to tally Smith and make it 3-0.
Hackworth lined an RBI single to center in the fourth to complete the scoring.
Rochester did turn three double plays defensively:
Miller lined to Coleman at third, who threw to second for an inning-ending double play in the third.
Maddi Heinzmann caught Reese Hoover’s looping liner at first base in the sixth and threw to second to double off Smith.
Rochester turned an around-the-horn double play on Sumpter-Music’s grounder to third in the seventh with Coleman throwing to Mylee Heinzmann, who made the left-handed pivot at second and threw to Maddi Heinzmann at first.
“The one true double play, the 5-4-3, was nice,” coach Coleman said. “But we had a dropped ball at catcher that ended up leading to a run and a couple errors like you mentioned. … Against a good team like that, all it takes is one mistake. They capitalized early and put the pressure on us. We just couldn’t scratch a run against Duncan.”
North Miami 4, Rochester 0
North Miami 030 100 0 – 4 11 2
Rochester 000 000 0 – 0 2 2
WP – Lauren Duncan (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K)
LP – Mia Howdeshell (7 IP, 11 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)
2B – Addison Miller (NM)
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