Roncalli’s Brewer throws no-hitter vs. Lady Zs in Kokomo tourney opener

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

KOKOMO — Roncalli senior Kayla Brewer threw a no-hitter in a 14-0 win over Rochester in the first round of the Kokomo softball tournament Friday.

Brewer faced the minimum 21 batters and struck out 14. Rochester’s only baserunner was Bria Rensberger, who reached on an error in the bottom of the fifth when the second baseman dropped her pop-up.

While the second baseman had to move to track it, it was still a catchable ball with reasonable effort by the second baseman. The Rochester dugout burst into celebration as Emma Mathias entered as a courtesy runner, but catcher Maggie Thorne summarily threw Mathias out trying to steal.

Rochester dropped to 6-1. They will play Illiana Christian at noon today in a consolation bracket game on Field No. 2 at Kokomo. Class 3A, No. 9 Illiana Christian lost to Class 4A, No. 9 Westfield 7-2 in their first-round game.

In other tournament games, Covenant Christian blanked Kokomo 5-0, and Delta handled Bellmont 13-8.

Class 3A, No. 3 Roncalli already led 3-0 after six innings before scoring 11 runs in the seventh.

Rensberger allowed just four hits through the first six innings.

An error on a dropped throw at first base and a passed ball led to two unearned runs in Roncalli’s two-run third. A throwing error on a sacrifice bunt led to another unearned run in the sixth.

“Our defense let us down tonight,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said. “You know, even going into the seventh inning, it was 3-0, but our defense played a hand in those runs for Roncalli. For me as a coach, comparing their defense to our defense, that’s the area we have to get better if we want to be a better team.”

But in the seventh, Rensberger faced seven batters and retired none of them. They included Bennie Leffler, who hit a three-run homer to center to make it 8-0, and Lucy Perry, who cranked a no-doubt two-run blast to right to make it 10-0.

Mathias got the final three outs. The last out came on a step-off.

Rochester came in averaging more than 11 runs per game, but Brewer could seemingly vary the speed and depth of her rise balls while also cooking a curve over the outside corner to right-handed batters. 

Of her 78 pitches, 65 were strikes. Of the 21 batters she faced, she threw first-pitch strikes to 17 of them. Aubrey Miller struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch to lead off the game. She was the only Rochester batter to reach a three-ball count.

“She did a great job working ahead, almost every batter,” Coleman said. “I think our first batter of the game, Miller, took her to a full count. I’m not sure she got to three balls after that. She was definitely in control and did a great job keeping us off balance at the plate. … Her movement was really impressive and the best that we’ve seen.”

Rochester was playing for the first time since a 13-4 win over Eastern (Greentown) on Monday. Even though Eastern and Roncalli might be a different caliber of opponent, there are common themes that Coleman is emphasizing.

“Our energy has to be there, and we have to stay together as a team through seven innings and not allow a mistake to bring the team down or to bring each player down,” Coleman said. “And that’s something that tonight I felt happened, and I thought one error turned into two that turned into four. And we just can’t beat ourselves like that.”

Roncalli 14, Rochester 0

Roncalli 002 001 (11) – 14 14 1

Rochester 000 000 0 – 0 0 4

WP – Kayla Brewer (7 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 14 K)

LP – Bria Rensberger (6 IP, 10 R, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K)

2B – Bennie Leffler 2 (RONC), Maggie Thorne (RONC)

HR – Bennie Leffler (RONC), Lucy Perry (RONC)