Softball: Burlington Central blanks Genoa-Kingston

When Burlington Central and Genoa-Kingston started play, it was merely ridiculously cold. By the time the rain and sleet arrived in the fourth inning, it was downright miserable.

But the Rockets didn't mind too much.

Their bats were red hot, and they and the pitching of Emily Kisch led the Rockets to a 12-0, 5-inning win in their Big Northern East opener.

Kisch struck out 8 and walked 2 as she and the Rockets improved to 4-1 on the season. Kisch also had 2 hits and scored 3 times. Kristina Ahlers had 3 hits for Central.

"We haven't had too many strikeouts this season, so they're seeing the ball and hitting it hard somewhere, putting it in play and something good happens when you do that," said Central coach Erica Maisto. "When we're doing our batting practice, we really focus on fundamentals."

The wintry conditions didn't rattle Kisch.

"It's hard to throw my spin pitches, so I just went to my fastball in and out," said Kisch. "I'm watching and there's no place to dry my hand off or anything.

"Our offense was really good today. We strung out hits together, so I'm really happy about that."

The Rockets wasted no time getting to Cog pitcher Kayti Beauchamp. Danielle Yurgil's RBI single was the key to a 3-run first inning. The Rockets added 4 more in the second, with Gretchen Schrubbe and Jill Neisendorf contributing 2-run singles.

Kisch's booming double to the left field corner was the key to a 4-run fifth that ended the game early. Schrubbe in particular, who came into the game hitting .600, has been in a groove.

"I just come out here and play like it's the last game I'm going to play and I put it all out there," she said. "My team is doing really well, they're hitting great."

Genoa-Kingston never got much going against Kisch. The Cogs put their first 2 runners on in the second with a hit and a walk, but Kisch retired 3 in a row to get out of it.

In the third, the Cogs got back-to-back singles with 2 outs, but Kisch got a strikeout to end the threat. She ended up striking out the side in the inning.