Flawless Rosary Royals headed to sectionals
Saturday's Class 3A Rosary championship game was decided, as many are, by defense and timely hitting.
The Royals got a lot of both. Sandwich had very little of either.
The result was a 7-2 win for the Royals who played errorless ball, got key hits from their big hitters, and a gutsy performance from pitcher Jessica Fortier.
"When we don't make errors we're tough to beat," Rosary coach Tara Tattersall said. "That's how we played today."
Fortier, who did not allow a run until the seventh inning, threw strikes, made tough pitches when she had to, and did not give up a single walk.
"We have a solid defense, and that's something that we've worked on all season," Fortier said.
While the Indians were in the process of stranding 8 baserunners in scoring position, Rosary (13-17) was making a habit of getting runners on for their middle hitters, and cashing in on their opportunities.
"We were able to string hits together today, and that always helps," Tattersall said. "We've been hitting a lot better lately."
Rosary got on the board right away with a pair of runs, as Brenda Rocha led off the game with a single, the first of 3 hits for the Royals' table setter.
"I went up there knowing that I could hit today, and having that mentality helped me a lot," Rocha said.
Two batters later, Courtney Classen delivered the inning's big hit, a run-scoring double.
"I put all of my strength into that one, and it felt good off the bat," Classen said. "We got hits at the right times today and got the runners home."
Rosary added another pair of runs in the fourth when Rocha and Classen singled and scored. Rocha crossed the plate on a fielder's choice, and Classen came home on a single by Emily Meyer that dropped just beyond the infield.
The Indians committed two of their six errors in the fifth and the Royals broke the game open as Audrey Ruddy picked up an RBI on a bunt, and Lauren McNally singled in two more.
"Rosary played a solid game, and we're not going to win any time when we make as many errors as we did today," Sandwich coach Randy Malloy said. "We were making contact, we kept our heads, but not being able to score when we had runners on was really frustrating."
After threatening in the first, second, fourth and sixth innings, Sandwich (13-17) finally broke through with a pair of runs in the seventh. But Fortier got the Indians cleanup hitter to fly out to center fielder Cassie Zachmann for the final out.
"I had some pitches working better than others, and I was trying to mix it up," Fortier said.
The Royals move on to play Sterling in the Rochelle sectional semifinals Thursday.