South Rockwood tops Mason to advance to Fair softball championship

South Rockwood's coaching staff had a number in mind.

Five.

With the mix of pitching, offense, and defense that South Rockwood has shown this week in the 48th Monroe County Fair Softball Tournament, head coach Steve Drummond felt that five runs would be enough to advance even against the hot-hitting bats of Mason.

"That was a goal to get us going," Drummond said. "We knew with our pitching we'd be able to keep the runs low, so if we get up to 4 or 5, we feel good about the outcome."

Five would have gotten the job done Wednesday.

South Rockwood added five more for good measure as it advanced to the Fair's championship game with a 10-1 victory over Mason.

"We're excited," Drummond said. "We won last year and we want to do it again."

South Rockwood put the pressure on Mason early.

The team scored three runs in the top of the first inning from Brityn Duffy, Olivia Piepsney, and Bella Mulvin. Duffy extended the lead to 4-1 in the third after hitting a one-out triple and scoring on a ground ball.

Brooklyn Martin provided the edge South Rockwood needed in the circle.

Martin earned the pitching win, giving up just one unearned run over three inning. She allowed one hit, no walks, and struck out seven.

"We have really good pitchers and they showed that it doesn't matter if they're facing good hitters or bad hitters, they're good pitchers," Drummond said. "It starts with the pitching and it starts with getting on base. Every time we got on base, we scored in the beginning. Our 3, 4, and 5 hitters did really good scoring."

Piepsney, who was walked intentionally in her first two at bats, provided the play of the game in the fifth inning. Duffy singled to lead off the frame before Piepsney laced a ball deep down the first base line that rolled to the fence and gave both batters plenty of time to clear the bases.

"It was fair by just a couple inches and that's all she (Piepsney) needed to get around," Drummond said. "She's a fast girl and a good hitter. It was really fun to see."

The inside-the-park home run pushed South Rockwood's lead to 6-1. The team added four more runs in the sixth.

Duffy finished the game 3-for-4 with four runs scored, and Piepsney had a homer, three walks, and three runs scored. Martin, Mulvin, and Quinn Robinson also had hits for South Rockwood.

Drummond's team will play in the championship game Friday at 4:15 p.m. against an opponent to be determined later.

Mason collected three hits in the game with two from Ava Belair and one from Zoie Stubleski. Mason scored 24 runs on 24 hits combined in its first two Fair games this week, but head coach Angie Gerber knew that South Rockwood would provide a tougher test.

"South Rockwood has four of the best 12u softball players in Monroe County, maybe arguably in the state," Gerber said. "Individually those girls are going to go far and they're fun to watch."

Mason drops into the tournament's lower bracket finals at 6:15 p.m. Thursday and will play the winner of the earlier game between Ida and Summerfield.

"What we lack in experience we make up for in heart and a desire to learn," Gerber said. "This team is going to be great and I'm going to help them get there. Integrity for the rules and the game are important than winning. That's the example I want to set and I believe as a coaching staff and a community that we've done that today. We're going to come back ready to fight and give it everything we got."

Ida 14, Dundee 3

Ida batted around its lineup and broke open the game with 10 runs in the third inning.

Fourteen girls stepped to the plate in the third for Ida and all of them reached base. Dundee recorded all three outs on the base paths.

Ida had the game in hand before that inning, scoring twice in the first and twice in the second to take a 4-0 lead.

Alex Haws, Brynn Lusky, and Peyton Welch had two hits apiece to lead Ida. Alli Schrader, Amelia McCoy, Adisyn Swiderski, Isabelle Alberts each added one.

Peyton Welch was the winning pitcher.

Ida advances to the lower bracket semifinals 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Summerfield.

Dundee was hitless through the first three innings but made some noise in the fourth, putting its first three runners on base. Charlize Scott, Lacey Evans, and Leah Evans all came around to score.

"I thought we did really well," Dundee coach Todd Federer said. "We were able to bring a couple 10u players up and give them experience in the Fair tournament. Hopefully we'll come back and just keep getting better."

Both sides played through a downpour for about 15 minutes before the game was briefly halted in the third inning.

Federer was proud of the way his team stayed in the game despite the lopsided score. Dundee's players embraced the weather and enjoyed fooling around in the rain between Ida batters.

"They're always having fun every game," Federer said. "Win or lose, that's good sportsmanship. The girls just want to play. It was a lot of fun."

Summerfield 18, Frenchtown 3

Summerfield totaled 10 hits and 12 walks to keep its tournament hopes alive.

Summerfield led 3-2 after the first inning but pulled away with five runs in the second and 10 more in the third inning to win by mercy rule.

Matti Powell went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored to lead Summerfield. Hayley Kohls (4 walks, 3 runs), Hayden Iott (2 hits, 3 runs), Claire Franzen (2 hits, 2 runs), and Alexa LaRocca (1 hit, 5 stolen bases, 3 runs) also had big games.

Summerfield will play Ida in the lower bracket semifinals at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.

Lauren Toliver and Madison Duvall each recorded a hit for Frenchtown. Toliver, Mikaela Priester, and Teagahn Heierman scored runs.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: South Rockwood tops Mason to advance to Fair softball championship