Johnsburg tops Burlington Central in 8

Burlington Central battled Johnsburg for seven innings.

But in the eighth, the wheels quickly came off for the Rockets.

The Skyhawks struck for 5 eighth-inning runs to defeat the Rockets, 7-2, in Big Northern East softball action on Rocket Hill Monday.

With one out, four straight Skyhawks reached base. Hannah Roy's booming double to left-center field scored 2 runs to make it 5-2.

The Rockets, meanwhile, were held to just 5 hits. Leadoff hitter Amanda Ratliff and No. 7 hitter Alyssa Mish had 2 hits apiece for the Rockets (12-10, 7-3), who had a five-game winning streak snapped.

Central took a 2-1 lead in the third. Mish led off with a single, and the next two hitters beat out bunts to load the bases. One run scored on an error and another came in on Gretchen Schrubbe's bases-loaded walk.

Johnsburg tied it in on Carly Wilson's long home run in the fifth, and that's the way it stayed until the Skyhawks' offense exploded in the extra frame.

"At the end of the day, we only scored two runs today," said Central coach Kyle Molik. "You've got to be able to score runs to beat teams. It's as simple as that."

Emily Kisch started in the circle for Central, but was replaced by Ashley Ratliff when Kisch's sore back started acting up.

Ratlliff took over to start the fourth and held the Skyhawks to just Wilson's home run through 4 innings. She was done in by some shaky defense in the eighth and a lack of run support.