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Heinzmann ejected after rough collision at third base; next: vs. Western Boone, Tuesday night
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
The Rochester softball team beat Oak Hill 5-3 in the Class 2A, Sectional 38 final at Fansler Field Thursday. The sectional title is Rochester’s third straight and their seventh in school history. Rochester (22-3) will host Sectional 37 champion Western Boone at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a regional at Fansler Field. Front, from left – assistant coach Rachel Enyart, Audrey Widman, Gabby Medina, Makhia Harding, Emma Mathias, Adalyn Gonzalez, assistant coach Maci Brown. Back – coach Jim Coleman, Jordyn Hackworth, Addy Banks, Jadyn Field, Mylee Heinzmann, Aubrey Miller, Brailyn Hunter, Bria Rensberger, Ali Field, Aubrey Wilson, Kyleigh Little, assistant coach Billy Medina, assistant coach David Musselman.
Winning sectionals in softball does not get easier over time.
Not when the sun is in your eyes when you are batting. Not when the opponent refuses to strike out against your best stuff and not when they hit a game-tying home run in the sixth inning.
Not when the baserunner carrying the most important run of the season was in a walking boot for much of the winter with a ligament injury in her foot.
The Rochester softball team came into its Class 2A, Sectional 38 final against Oak Hill undefeated at Fansler Field and undefeated against Class 2A competition, and they stayed that way, battling through the adversity that Oak Hill threw at them and triumphing 5-3.
Adalyn Gonzalez’s two-strike, two-out single in the top of the seventh broke a 3-3 tie and drove home Audrey Widman and Aubrey Miller.
Bria Rensberger then retired Kierstin Peterson on a grounder to second to start the bottom of the seventh. She gave up an infield single to Ryleigh Myers, but she got Becca Cardona on a grounder to first base and Kalinn Larimore on a pop-up to Aubrey Wilson at shortstop.
Wilson’s catch triggered a celebration in the middle of the diamond as the Lady Zs improved to 22-3. The sectional title is their third straight and their seventh in school history.
“Toughest one, to be honest,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said. “Oak Hill definitely brought it. Great team, coached very well. Our players dug deep. This is the second time Oak Hill has had us down, once last year in the sectional semifinal and then again tonight. So to be able to come back and get this one is extremely sweet.”
Rochester will host Western Boone at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a regional.
Oak Hill finished 17-9.
Gonzalez, Wilson, Rensberger and Mylee Heinzmann finished with two hits each. Wilson also had two RBIs, and Heinzmann had one.
“It’s such an amazing team of people that I play with, so I couldn’t be any happier to have these people on my team,” Wilson said.
The rally in the seventh started when Ali Field led off by singling down the left field line. The left fielder bobbled the ball for an error, and Field reached second.
Rochester coach Jim Coleman decided to insert Widman as a courtesy runner for Field, the catcher. Coleman had used Emma Mathias as a courtesy runner when Field reached base on an error in the fifth, but Mathias had since entered the game at second base after Mylee Heinzmann was ejected, so she was unavailable. Kyleigh Little had served as a courtesy runner for Bria Rensberger on two different occasions, so she was unavailable.
So Coleman went with Widman, who had been in a walking boot during the winter with a foot injury suffered during swimming season.
Widman stayed at second while Gabby Medina popped to short and Mathias struck out.
Aubrey Miller came up for the fourth time. Oak Hill pitcher Pathie Speicher missed on the first three pitches.
At this point, Miller, a Taylor University signee, wondered if Oak Hill was just working around her and wanted to take their chances with Gonzalez, a freshman.
“Personally, I would have,” Miller said when asked if she thought Speicher had been told to walk her.
If the strategy was to pitch around Miller, Gonzalez foiled it.
“That’s a big spot for a freshman to be in,” Miller said. “I’m a senior, and I didn’t like being in that spot.”
Meanwhile, Coleman gave a sign that Widman later said she misinterpreted. She tried to steal on a 3-0 pitch that was outside for ball four. Oak Hill catcher Jolee Hawkins came up throwing, but her throw was late, and Widman was called safe.
For Widman, it was just her second stolen base of the season.
“So I actually misread the sign,” Widman said. “And my legs, like I almost couldn’t stop myself. Something was just telling me go. Just try it. You’ll be safe. So I went, and I was able to keep my foot on the bag for long enough to avoid the tag and being out. I felt like that also helped sparked more energy in our team and get it started.”
Coleman was asked if Widman had the steal sign.
“No,” he said.
So how did she end up stealing?
“She went on her own,” Coleman said. “It was a fake-bunt take that I gave Lynnie (Miller). I don’t know if Audrey mixed up the signs or if she didn’t understand what a fake-bunt take was, but yeah, it was not a steal sign. She just went. Fortunately, she was able to get under the tag.”
Now with runners at first and third, Miller bluffed going to second. Hawkins jumped out of her crouch behind the plate and fired the ball back to Speicher. They were trying to catch Widman napping. She stayed at third, and Miller stayed at first.
Gonzalez fell behind 1-2. The sun was now right in her eyes as it set behind the center field fence.
“I just wanted a base hit,” Gonzalez said. “To be honest, I really couldn’t see the ball because the sun was in my eyes. But I really just wanted to make contact. I was really early on all the balls that I swung at on my foul balls. … It felt really good. When I hit the ball, I wasn’t trying to really hit the ball. I just wanted to make contact. I was battling. I was really, really scared actually.”
Gonzalez fouled off two more pitches. She took a ball high, and on the sixth pitch of the at-bat, Miller stole second while Widman held at third.
On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, Gonzalez lined a clean single to left to bring home Widman. Miller was waved home, but Kalinn Larimore’s throw from left field hit Miller in the back just before she crossed the plate.
Rochester was back up 5-3.
It’s possible that Widman would not have been able to score from second on Gonzalez’s hit. It is almost certain that no more than one run would have scored without Widman’s stolen base.
Widman’s stolen base then affected what Miller did.
“It was huge because then we were able to move Miller to second, and then Gonzo’s hit was two runs instead of one,” Coleman said.
Rochester came in ranked No. 7 while Oak Hill was unranked.
“I felt like there’s a lot of pressure on us,” Gonzalez said. “Because we won two sectionals in a row the past two years. I know that after that home run, I was scared because we were tied. But I just put it on Bria to throw strikes and have good defense for her.”
The game’s most controversial – and violent – play occurred with Rochester trailing 2-1 in the top of the fifth. With Gabby Medina on second and one out, Heinzmann doubled to left-center to score Medina with the tying run.
Heinzmann tried to stretch the hit to a triple, but third baseman Kora Weller was waiting at the bag with the relay throw.
Heinzmann plowed into Weller, knocking her over. Heinzmann was called out and the umpires immediately ejected Heinzmann, per violation of the Malicious Contact Rule, NFHS Rule 2-35. This bars any “excessive force” used against any fielder with the ball.
“Mylee came in hard,” Coleman said. “I don’t know if she tripped before and then went into it. Excessive force since her first contact was the defender and not the ground or the base. It’s unfortunate that she got ejected. I think she was just going in hard, and she will miss our regional game as well because defensively, she’s as solid as anyone we have.
“I think she was just overaggressive. She didn’t go in with any intent or any malice. I think she went in hard, and unfortunately, she didn’t get any dirt before it. … I’m thankful that their third baseman was OK and Mylee as well.”
The game stayed 2-2 going into the sixth when Gonzalez led off with a double to left-center. Wilson followed with an RBI single to left-center, and Rochester was back up 3-2.
The lead was ever so brief because Ericah Emery launched a homer to lead off the bottom of the sixth.
The game was tied again.
“I was very nervous,” Miller said. “It was very scary but great. … This game might have been more scary than Pioneer (in the 2024 sectional final) because they could hit the ball.”
What was Miller thinking after Emery’s home run?
“I hate my life,” Miller said. “We cannot lose right now.”
Rensberger said the freshman version of herself would have “fallen apart and cried” after giving up a homer in that situation.
“I had to shake it off and move on,” Rensberger said.
In fact, Rensberger retired the next three batters. It came down to the seventh inning.
Wilson told Rensberger that there is no other pitcher she would want in the circle.
“I was a ball of emotions the whole game,” Rensberger said. “It was a close game. Oak Hill was a tough, tough opponent. We did what Rochester does best and came out on top.”
Wilson started the scoring with an RBI double down the left field line in the first.
Oak Hill struck out only once against Rensberger, a member of the 500 career strikeout club, in the first three innings, but they did not score either.
In the fourth, Emery reached on an error, and Speicher’s sacrifice bunt moved her to second. Weller’s RBI single scored Emery to tie the game, and Weller advanced to second when the throw home was late. Ava David followed with an RBI double to give the Lady Golden Eagles their first lead.
Rochester 5, Oak Hill 3
Rochester 100 011 2 – 5 9 1
Oak Hill 000 201 0 – 3 7 4
WP – Bria Rensberger (7 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 K)
LP – Pathie Speicher (7 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 4 K)
2B – Aubrey Wilson (RHS), Mylee Heinzmann (RHS), Adalyn Gonzalez (RHS), Ava David (OH)
HR – Ericah Emery (OH)
