Hard-hitting Lady Hornets end Rochester’s season at regional

Coleman: Non-conference schedule needs to improve

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Jadyn Field

ROSSVILLE — Rochester sophomore pitcher Bria Rensberger had eight games this year that she won while allowing five hits or fewer.

So it might have come as a shock when host Rossville had five hits in a row off Rensberger in a seven-run third inning in a Class 2A regional Tuesday.

By the time the inning was over, Rossville had a nine-run lead, and they cruised home with a 9-2 win.

Jadyn Field went 2 for 2 with a double, a triple and a sacrifice fly for Rochester, who finished 21-5. Aubrey Wilson and Darah Strasser had one hit each.

Rochester has not won a regional since 2012.

Afterwards, young players from the Rochester Softball League – they were given the night off so they could make the road trip for the regional – lined up outside the dugout and formed a tunnel to thank their heroes in spite of the loss.

Rossville, who is playing in Class 2A per the IHSAA Success Factor after winning the Class 1A state title last year, improved to 23-5. Rossville had never won a sectional title prior to 2022, but they have now won four straight regionals.

Rossville will play Central Noble at 1 p.m. Saturday at Kokomo in a semistate semifinal.

Avery Layton, Rossville’s pitching ace who plays Gold level travel ball for Extreme Elite 18-and-under and who is a Virginia Tech recruit, finished with 12 strikeouts in the circle for the win.

But Rossville’s hitting – they came into the game averaging 11.6 runs per game with a .411 team batting average – was also impressive.

“Layton definitely kept us on our toes in the box, but they can hit,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said. “Their offense is one of the best that we’ve seen. … For a team to strike out only three times against Bria, that says a lot. They had a lot of solid hits off her, and when you hit as well as they do, and they have Layton in the circle, they’re a very tough team.

“Like I told the girls, it would not surprise me if we saw Rossville playing for a state championship again.”

Rossville took a 1-0 lead in the first when Gracie McDonald led off with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch and scored on Layton’s two-out RBI single.

The Lady Hornets made it 2-0 in the second when Autumn Paschal led off with a single to center, tagged up and took second when Finley Gibson’s fly to center pushed Darah Strasser back to the fence, stole third and scored on a passed ball.

But it was the third when the game went awry for Rochester.

The top half started when No. 8 hitter Makhia Harding reached on an error. Then Strasser laid down a sacrifice bunt, and when the throw to try and get her at first was wild for an error, Rochester had two on with nobody out and the lineup about to turn over.

Layton responded by striking out Aubrey Miller looking. Brailyn Hunter’s sacrifice bunt moved runners to second and third, but Layton struck out Wilson to retire the side.

Rensberger got Allie Elliott on a grounder to third to start the bottom half, but the Rossville onslaught followed: Addi Gorbett tripled to deep right, Layton singled her home, Brielle Layton singled, Caydence Robey singled to load the bases, and Paschal drilled a two-run single to make it 5-0. 

Finley Gibson’s grounder deep in the hole at short drew a two-base throwing error, scoring Robey and Paschal to make it 7-0.

Two batters later, McDonald singled to score Gibson, and when Elliott cranked a double to the left-field fence, the lead was 9-0.

“She’s a good pitcher,” Rossville coach Chris Gorbett said of Rensberger. “And the time and effort she put in, it shows on the diamond. And congratulations to her and her work and her effort that she did to what she did this year.”

Field doubled to deep center to lead off the second but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple. In the fourth, she hit another deep drive to right-center that a diving center fielder Ava Delks could not snare, and this time Field did leg out the triple.

“Jadyn Field, she hit the ball hard all night,” Coleman said.

But Layton fanned Mylee Heinzmann and got Gabby Medina on a foul pop to third.

Strasser created Rochester’s first run in the fifth when she hit an opposite-field double down the left field line, stole third and scored when the throw to try and get her rolled into left field for an error.

Wilson led off the sixth with an infield single, went to second on Rensberger’s sacrifice bunt, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on Field’s fly to center.

Meanwhile, Rensberger faced 10 batters – just one over the minimum – in innings 4-6.

“Credit Bria,” Coleman said. “She beared down like she has all year and finished off the last three innings. She was really solid.”

Afterwards, Coleman was asked if Rochester will have to improve its non-conference schedule in order to compete with teams like Rossville. Avery Layton is Rossville’s only senior.

“We have to,” Coleman said. “We kind of frontloaded a lot of good teams this past season, but once we get into the conference, it’s tough to get a nonconference team that’s willing to come down because they’re battling (in their) conference as well. … We got into the Logansport tourney in hopes that that would help us, but unfortunately for us, that was canceled (due to rain) on our end, but we’re going to have to face better pitching and get our girls and our players accustomed to teams at this level. To get over the regional hump, we have to play better competition, so we know what to expect when we come into a regional or anything after that.”

As for Rossville, they had nonconference games against teams like McCutcheon, Lafayette Jeff, Harrison, Western, Pioneer and Clinton Prairie.

“I’ve always said every team that you play, you learn from – the good, the bad and the ugly,” coach Gorbett said. “And that’s what grows you to where you’re at. So our schedule and every team that we play, I appreciate them, and I thank them every day for what we’ve conquered and hopefully where we’ll be.”

The game marked the prep finale for seniors Strasser and Mia Howdeshell. A third senior, Lillee Conley, was not medically cleared to be with the team after suffering an injury in practice.

“You’re not going to find two leaders that really kept this team together and kept pushing,” Coleman said of Strasser and Howdeshell. “Those two have been with me a long time when I started 8U (eight-and-under). Those two were the last two that have been with me all the way back. I’m proud of the team. I’m proud of the fight.”

Nestled behind the school, the outfield fence of the softball field at Rossville High School stood in front of a group of trees that gave it a scenic disposition.

Layton struck out Miller and Hunter to start before walking Wilson. Wilson stole second, but Layton struck out Rensberger to end the inning.

Rossville 9, Rochester 2

Rochester 000 011 0 – 2 4 1

Rossville 117 000 X – 9 10 3

WP – Avery Layton (7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 12 K)

LP – Bria Rensberger (6 IP, 10 H, 9 R, 4 ER, 3 BB, 3 K)

2B – Jadyn Field (RHS), Darah Strasser (RHS), Allie Elliott (RV)

3B – Jadyn Field (RHS), Addi Gorbett (RV)