Rochester relies on strong start, routs Manchester for 6th sectional title
- Val T.
- 3 days ago
- 3 min read
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
CONVERSE — Strong starts have not been common for the Rochester softball team, according to coach Jim Coleman, but Coleman saw a focused group before its Class 2A, Sectional 38 final against Manchester at Oak Hill Thursday.
Two batters into the game, they had a 1-0 lead. One inning into the game, they had a 3-0 lead.
After two innings, it was an 8-0 runaway. By the third inning, Rochester baserunners began to mercifully step off to limit the carnage.
When Bria Rensberger slipped a called third strike past Karsyn Kampheus with the bases loaded to end it, Rochester had won 16-1 to accomplish back-to-back sectional titles and their sixth in school history.
The back-to-back sectionals are the first time Rochester has done that since 2004-05.
The No. 15 Lady Zs improved to 21-4. Manchester finished 15-15.
Rochester will travel to No. 10 Rossville for the regional Tuesday. Start time has not been determined yet. Rossville is the defending Class 1A state champion who moved up to Class 2A per the IHSAA Success Factor this year.
Rensberger pitched a no-hitter with 18 strikeouts in a 10-0 win over Manchester April 30 in their Three Rivers Conference meeting. This time, she tossed a three-hitter with five walks and nine strikeouts.
Three of the walks were consecutive in the fifth inning, including one with the bases loaded, but by then, the Lady Zs had a 16-run lead.
Brailyn Hunter’s RBI double scored Aubrey Miller from first to open the scoring. Aubrey Wilson then hit a liner off Manchester pitcher Molly Schannep’s left side for an infield single.
Schanepp rolled in agony on the field. A trainer and Manchester coach Todd Volk tended to her, and even Wilson came over to briefly comfort her after the play was declared dead.
Schanepp, pitching her third game in three days, got up, threw some warmup pitches and stayed in the game.
Volk elected not to play the infield in. Rensberger and Field followed with back-to-back RBI groundouts to shortstop to make it 3-0.
In the second, Darah Strasser led off with a single, and she advanced to second when Miller grounded out to Hadley West at third. Back-to-back walks to Hunter and Wilson loaded the bases.
Rensberger’s grounder to short was booted for an error. Strasser scored to make it 4-0.
Jadyn Field’s grounder into the hole on the left side went for an RBI single to make it 5-0.
Heinzmann then hit a grounder to shortstop, but the throw home for an attempted forceout was high over the catcher’s head for an error. Wilson scored to make it 6-0.
One out later, Makhia Harding, who did not play against Oak Hill in a semifinal win Wednesday, lined a two-out, two-run single to center to make it 8-0.
Miller led off the third with a single to center. She stole second, and when the throw to try and get her not only split the second baseman and shortstop but eluded the center fielder and rolled all the way to the fence, Miller came in to score easily to make it 9-0.
Schanepp struck out Hunter looking, but the next 10 batters reached base in a blizzard of wildness – there were four walks, five hit batters and five wild pitches – from Schanepp and reliever Allie Egolf.
The only player to put the ball in play during this span was Strasser, who stroked a two-run double inside the right field line to make it 14-0. A bases-loaded walk to Wilson made it 15-0.
The last two outs of the inning came on step-offs from Harding and Miller.
Gabby Medina had an RBI single in the bottom of the fourth off No. 3 pitcher Rebecca Jimenez.
Rochester 16, Manchester 1 (5 innings)
Manchester 000 01 – 1 3 3
Rochester 357 1X – 16 11 1
WP – Bria Rensberger (5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 9 K)
LP – Molly Schanepp (2 ⅓ IP, 7 H, 10 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 1 HBP, 1 K)
2B – Brailyn Hunter (RHS), Darah Strasser (RHS), Jadyn Field (RHS)
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