The Rockdale Lady Tiger softball team suffered their first District 19-3A loss on Friday night in Lexington 12-2, falling to a Lady Eagle squad that built an early lead and forced RHS to fight back for the entirety of the game.
“I think we did really good considering this is the best pitcher we’ve faced all year,” said Erin Palmer, Rockdale High School head softball coach. “We put hits together, but not strung together like we needed them to be.
“There were a few holes in each inning that I feel kind of killed the drive. That was something that hurt us. We would get runners in scoring position, but we couldn’t get them to score.”
The Lady Tigers got on top early when Haven Jimenez batted Macy Knesek in to put Rockdale up 1-0 in the first inning, but that wasn’t enough after a six-run rally by the Lady Eagles in the second.
First, Kylie Muhl singled to score in Alexis Gonzales, tying the game at one. Later in the inning, Kacie Johnson hit a three-run homer to make the game 4-1 and Kylie Hobbs hit a two-run bomb two at-bats later to put Lexington ahead 6-1.
Rockdale was unable to stop the Lexington bats which scored once the next three innings and put up three in the bottom of the sixth, ending the game 12-2 due to the 10-run rule.
“Lexington’s really strong offensively,” Palmer said. “We knew they could rope the ball.
“We knew it was going to be a battle of the bats. We just weren’t able to put it together.”
Knesek led the blue-and-gold with three hits and one run batted in. Autumn Montelongo and Mariana Casarez both had two hits and Haven Jimenez and Payton Miller each had one. Brande Breithaupt pitched two innings and allowed six hits. Karley Leopold took the circle in the third, throwing three strikeouts in three innings.
“I saw a lot of good things,” Palmer said. “Perseverance, grit, we didn’t give up at the plate.
“We were also trying new stuff and making adjustments. We just need to remember it’s early on in district play and we have a lot of room to grow.”
The Lady Tigers were without junior infielder Emily Depine, who broke her hand in practice last week. Miller has also only played offense Friday night due to a quad strain, leaving behind the plate duties to sophomore Hannah Rodriguez. Depine is scheduled to see a specialist and Miller is cleared to play.
ACADEMY—Rockdale fell to Little River-Academy 7-4 on the road Tuesday night. The Lady Bees got off to a hot start, scoring three in the first and another three runs in the second inning.
Although they lost, the Lady Tigers out-hit the Lady Bees nine to eight.
Miller led Rockdale with three hits and two RBI’s. Montelongo and Ryleigh Eanes each had two hits and Casarez and Knesek both had one. Leopold struckout three and allowed eight hits and is now 2-1 in three district games pitched. The Lady Tigers are now 2-2 halfway through the first round of district.
They play Troy Wednesday, March 13, at the Lady Tiger Softball Field. RHS last faced the Trojanettes in the 2018 bi-district playoffs losing 6-0. Troy is 14-4-2 and 2-1 in District 19-3A as of press time.
First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.