After fighting their way through the losers bracket with four straight wins, the Rockdale Hot Shots of the Eight-and-Under Coach Pitch Division will represent the Rockdale Girls Softball League in Rusk at the Texas Teenage Softball State Tournament.
The Hot Shots, who were undefeated in league play, encountered adversity last Tuesday evening when they opened the tournament against the Rosebud Havoc and struggled early and ended the game in a 15-14 loss.
“We kind of had two bad innings in the first game,” said Grant Owen, a Hot Shot coach. “I think one of the things was that this was the first time this season that they played on an infield with grass.
“So our timing was a little off on defense and we made a few errors. We got down about six or seven runs after that. Our girls came back later in the game and I think if we would’ve had one more inning we would’ve won the game. But I guess we just ran out of time unfortunately.”
Following their opening round loss, the Hot Shots outscored their next four opponents 52-4 with a 13-1 win over the Rock-dale Dream Crushers on Wednesday evening, a 16-2 win over the Holland Hornets and a 14-1 win over the Rogers Ponytail Express on Thursday and revenge over Rosebud early Friday evening with a 9-1 win.
In the championship game later that night, they lost 16-8 to the Cameron Diamond Queens, earning them second place in the District 5 tourney and a berth to the state tournament in Rusk. Games will be played July 8-12.
At state, Owen said he is unsure of the competition the girls will potentially have to face, but said that district champ Cameron will be tough again.
“Our girls did amazing,” Owen said. “We’re all proud of them.
Fellow Rockdale-representative the Dream Crushers also played in Cameron, losing in the first round to the Rogers Ponytail Express 10-4 and being eliminated from the tourney with a 13-1 loss on Wednesday to the Hot Shots.
In the 10-and-under division, the Milano Lady Eagles became District 5 champions after beating Crawford in the title game on Friday evening in Temple.
The Lady Eagles will play in the state tournament in Corsicana from July 8-12.
In the 12-and-Under Division, the Rockdale Venom’s season came to an end after falling to Academy in Moody.
In the 15-and-Under Division, the Thorndale Diamond Divas started their week strong with a 14-2 win over Lampasas and a 4-3 win over the Belton Elite.
They fell to the loser’s bracket after being defeated by a Troy squad 5-1 in the third round. Their first opponent in the loser’s bracket was their league rival and RGSL champion, the Rockdale Scrappers. The Diamond Divas eliminated the Rockdale girls in a 4-3 win. Their success in the loser’s bracket was short lived when the Belton Elite avenged their second-round loss to take the Divas out of the tournament.
The Rockdale Scrappers also played at the tournament in Belton, being eliminated by Thorndale and ending their season.
T-BALL—In addition to the Hot Shots and the Lady Eagles, the Rockdale Heart-breakers and the Milano Lil’ Eagles will also have a chance to play for a state championship next week.
Both Six-and-Under teams automatically qualified for the state tourney since it will be played at the Rockdale Little League Softball Fields this up-and-coming week.
According to RGSL treasurer Victoria Rubio the tournament expected to draw more than 400 visitors to Rockdale.
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