Rochester routs Kokomo, settles for 7th at Kokomo Tournament

Val T.
4 days ago
4 min read

Rensberger: 9 up, 9 down, 9 Ks

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Mylee Heinzmann Gabby Medina

KOKOMO — After facing a pair of top 10 teams in Class 3A in their first two games of the Kokomo Tournament, the Rochester softball team recovered to beat the host Lady Wildkats Saturday.

The Class 2A, No. 9 Lady Zs began their day with a 12-4 loss to Class 3A, No. 9 Illiana Christian in the loser’s bracket before bouncing back to beat Kokomo 20-2 in five innings to finish in seventh place in the eight-team field.

Rochester 20, Kokomo 2 (5 innings)

Rochester scored 12 runs in the first inning and eight more in the third against Kokomo. The first 11 Rochester batters reached base, and the Lady Zs had a 9-0 lead before Kokomo recorded an out.

Mylee Heinzmann went 3 for 3 with two singles and a double and six RBIs, and freshman Kyleigh Little, seeing time at shortstop, had three hits and three RBIs hitting out of the No. 2 spot in the batting order. Emma Mathias had a double, a walk and three RBIs.

Ali Field saw time at first base, third base and catcher and also mashed a three-run homer.

Aubrey Miller, Bria Rensberger and Gabby Medina each had an RBI.

Kokomo pitcher Jordynn Dupay also walked seven and hit three batters.

Kokomo committed three errors that led to nine unearned runs for Rochester.

Meanwhile, Rensberger tore through the Kokomo lineup, striking out all nine batters she faced before getting the final two innings off. Aubrey Wilson allowed a pair of runs in the fourth before Mathias finished with a scoreless fifth.

Freshman outfielder Adalyn Gonzalez did not play against Kokomo after being hit in the arm against Illiana Christian.

Rochester improved to 7-2. Kokomo fell to 0-7.

Class 4A, No. 9 Westfield won the tournament, edging Roncalli 5-4 in the semifinals and beating Delta 13-4 in the final Saturday. Roncalli handled Covenant Christian 14-1 in five innings in the third-place game. Illiana Christian knocked off Bellmont 6-2 in the fifth-place game after beating Rochester.

Rochester came into the tournament undefeated.

“Absolutely, it’s something that we needed to see, especially coming in 6-0,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said of the quality of the tournament. “It was a good reality check for us. I feel as coaches it gives us an opportunity to really push the players now that they can see what’s out there and not get so complacent like we were, I felt, coming into Roncalli.”

Illiana Christian 12, Rochester 4

Medina came off the bench to have two singles and two RBIs for Rochester in the loss to Illiana Christian. Aubrey Wilson added a double and an RBI.

Mathias, Little and Jadyn Field had one hit each.

Rensberger had an RBI groundout in a two-run fourth as the Lady Zs got within 6-2, but Illiana Christian responded with four runs in their half of the fourth to go up 10-2.

“Well, I thought our approach in the box was much better,” Coleman said of the offense. “Our swings were much improved compared to Roncalli, and just our approach in the box was much better. Unfortunately, a couple of our hard-hit balls were right at them, but our approach and discipline were much better this morning.”

Brailyn Hunter and Mathias each pitched three innings, and each allowed six runs. Hunter allowed five hits and two walks while Mathias yielded seven hits and three walks.

Neither recorded a strikeout.

Despite the ball being consistently in play, Rochester cut down from four errors in their 14-0 loss to Roncalli on Friday to one error against the Lady Vikings.

“It’s something we’re going to pay a lot of attention to coming up this next coming week,” Coleman said of the defense. “We moved some players around today. I think defensively we can tighten things a little bit more than what we have. We’ve got to put more pressure on them in practice to get them ready defensively.”

Lauren Mish singled and doubled and had four RBIs, and Mya VanderWoude doubled and homered and drove in two runs for Illiana Christian.

Grayce Scheeringa pitched the first four innings for the win, and Bailey Kelley pitched three scoreless innings of relief for the save.

VanderWoude followed her RBI double with a steal of home as part of a five-run third as Illiana Christian expanded their lead to 6-0.

Rochester played all three of their games in the tournament on Field No. 2, the grass field beyond the fence of the main softball field at Kokomo.

This might not necessarily be Rochester’s final games this season at Kokomo, who will also host the Class 2A semistate.

If Rochester advances to semistate, those games will be played at the main softball stadium at Kokomo.

Seventh-place game: Rochester 20, Kokomo 2 (5 innings)

Rochester (12)08 00 – 20 16 1

Kokomo 000 20 – 2 3 3

WP – Bria Rensberger (3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K)

LP – Jordynn Dupay (5 IP, 14 H, 20 R, 11 ER, 7 BB, 3 HBP, 1 K)

2B – Aubrey Miller (RHS), Emma Mathias (RHS), Gabby Medina (RHS), Kyleigh Little (RHS), Mylee Heinzmann (RHS)

HR – Ali Field (RHS)

Loser’s bracket: Illiana Christian 12, Rochester 4

Rochester 000 220 0 – 4 6 1

Illiana Christian 015 411 X – 12 12 1