Rensberger pitches 1-hitter, fans 9, leads Lady Zs to sectional final

Wilson, Gonzalez have 2 hits each in 5-inning triumph over Eastern

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Mylee Heinzmann Adalyn Gonzalez

Rochester junior softball pitcher Bria Rensberger had a plan on how to deal with Emilia Andrews going into their Class 2A, Sectional 38 semifinal against Eastern (Greentown) Tuesday.

Throw in on her hands.

Andrews, Eastern’s shortstop and leadoff hitter and an Illinois State recruit, came in hitting .648 with seven homers, but Rensberger held her to only one hit in three at-bats, and the Lady Zs took advantage of four Eastern errors to win 11-0 in five innings.

Rochester, ranked No. 7, improved to 21-3 and advanced to the sectional final to play Oak Hill. The Lady Golden Eagles took out Lewis Cass 5-2 in the other semifinal.

Eastern finished 13-14.

Aubrey Wilson had two hits and two RBIs for Rochester, and freshman Adalyn Gonzalez had two hits and an RBI.

Eastern came in having committed 83 errors while Rochester had 35. In this game, Eastern had four, and Rochester had none. Ten of Rochester’s runs were unearned.

Gonzalez singled with one out in the first and stole second. She scored on Wilson’s single to center.

Eastern pitcher Aeralynn Forman struck out Ali Field looking with the bases loaded to keep the deficit at one.

Forman walked two in the first inning, but neither came around to score. Her lack of control was more costly in the second.

She began by walking Gabby Medina. Mylee Heinzmann laid down a sacrifice bunt, which the third baseman fumbled for an error. Aubrey Miller walked to load the bases. Forman then hit Gonzalez in the arm with a pitch to force home Medina.

Forman, a freshman, threw 1 ⅓ innings in an 8-3 win over Wabash in the quarterfinals Monday.

“One of the things we addressed pregame was to stay patient in the box,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said. “Knowing that (Forman) was a freshman and that she did see the circle yesterday, so we felt that if we could maintain our composure and stay patient in the box that we’d eventually get a good pitch.”

Two batters later, Jadyn Field slashed a hard ground ball at shortstop, who kicked it for an error all the way into right-center field, where it died in the outfield grass. The bases cleared, scoring Heinzmann, Miller and Gonzalez to make it 5-0.

The effective small ball continued in the third, when Rochester scored six more times.

Brailyn Hunter led off by reaching on an error, and Ali Field followed with a walk. Medina laid down a sacrifice bunt at the third baseman, who was indecisive upon picking up the ball and then threw wildly to first to try and get Medina.

Hunter and Emma Mathias, who was in as a courtesy runner for Ali Field, scored on the error to make it 7-0.

Heinzmann’s grounder to the pitcher moved Medina to third, and Miller’s grounder to short off reliever Paige Wesner drove home Medina.

Gonzalez then doubled to left-center, and Wilson singled to right to bring home Gonzalez and make it 9-0. Jadyn Field lined a single to right to push Wilson to third.

Wilson and Jadyn Field then executed a double steal with Wilson stealing home to make it 10-0. Jadyn Field went to third on a wild pitch and scored when Rensberger singled to left to make it 11-0.

“We definitely put pressure on their third baseman,” Coleman said. “We had Mylee Heinzmann getting down a great bunt, and Jadyn Field hit a laser there at short. … We caught a break there with the ball getting kicked out to right. … Our speed is going to be difficult for anybody. I would say probably seven out of the nine spots in our lineup have above-average speed. … If we can get that base runner moving, it definitely worked in our advantage.”

Eastern got a runner in scoring position against Rensberger only in the second inning on walks to Marley Green and Jenna Oman, but Rensberger struck out Joy Voorhis to end the inning.

Rensberger got Andrews to line out to Heinzmann at second base in the first. In the third, Andrews beat out a grounder up the middle just to the right of second base for what turned out to be the Lady Comets’ lone hit.

Andrews, who came in second in the state in stolen bases with 47, did not pilfer any bags in this game.

Rensberger retired eight of the final nine batters to close it out, and Eastern’s only baserunner came on a third strike wild pitch. The last out came when Andrews grounded into a forceout to Wilson at shortstop.

Andrews went 3 for 4 with two RBIs, including a homer and a double, off Rensberger in a 13-4 Rochester win in the teams’ regular season meeting April 20.

“She was tough to pitch to, but I had to bust her inside on her hands,” Rensberger said of Andrews. “That was the only way we were going to get her to hit those weak ground balls. She was overall probably the toughest hitter I’ve seen all season. But I’m just confident in (assistant) coach Muss (David Musselman), and I’m confident in myself on just throwing her inside and getting her to roll over or hit weak ground balls.”

She got help from Heinzmann, who hustled into foul territory to snag Mackenzea Causey’s pop for the first out in the fourth. Jadyn Field followed by snaring Green’s liner at first.

“Defense was phenomenal,” Rensberger said. “And it has been phenomenal the whole season. No matter what our record is, it’s been phenomenal, and I’m forever thankful to have that defense like that behind me.”

Oak Hill 5, Lewis Cass 2

Ava David went 3 for 3 with an RBI, and Becca Cardona and Jolee Hawkins had two hits each as part of an 11-hit attack as Oak Hill eliminated Lewis Cass 5-2 in the second semifinal.

Kalinn Larimore had an RBI squeeze bunt in the first inning and a sacrifice fly in the second as Oak Hill built a 4-0 lead.

Lewis Cass scored when Shae Dishner reached on an error in the third and again in the fifth on Maddie Lynch’s RBI single.

Oak Hill completed the scoring on Becca Cardona’s RBI single in the sixth.

Rochester and Oak Hill (17-8) will meet for the first time since last year’s sectional semifinal, which Rochester won 7-3.

Rochester 11, Eastern (Greentown) 0 (5 innings)

Rochester 146 00 – 11 7 0

Eastern 000 00 – 0 1 4

WP – Bria Rensberger (5 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K)

LP – Aeralynn Forman (2 ⅓ IP, 2 H, 8 R, 1 ER, 5 BB, 1 HBP, 4 K)

2B – Adalyn Gonzalez (RHS)