RCTC starts strong, but falls in softball World Series opener
May 22—CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Rochester Community and Technical College held its own, defensively, with the No. 1-ranked team in the country for half of Wednesday's game.
But North Dakota State College of Science proved to have too much pitching and too much at the plate for the Yellowjackets to handle.
No. 1-ranked and top-seeded NDSCS (based in Wahpeton, N.D.) used a two-run second inning to take the lead for good en route to an 8-0 victory against RCTC at Frost Stadium, Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the NJCAA Division III softball World Series.
The loss drops RCTC (19-19 overall) into a consolation game at 10 a.m. Thursday against RCSJ Gloucester (Sewell, N.J.). The winner of that game will keep its hopes alive to play back into the national championship game. The loser will end its season at noon Friday in the national seventh-place game.
NDSCS, 52-9 overall and winner of 11 consecutive games, moved into a national quarterfinal game that began late Wednesday afternoon.
RCTC got off to a good start Wednesday, in its first national tournament appearance in more than 15 years. Kasson-Mantorville graduate Aubrey Grover walked to lead off the game against NDSCS, but that momentum was short-lived as she was caught stealing one batter later as part of a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.
RCTC then loaded the bases when pitcher Zoey Clark delivered a two-out single after another K-M grad, Abby Zahn, walked, and Bailey Monson was hit by a pitch. That's where the rally ended, though, as RCTC left the bases loaded.
NDSCS took the lead for good in the bottom of the second inning, turning four singles into two runs and a 2-0 lead that was all Wildcats pitchers Grace Folkema and Emma Johnson needed.
Monson delivered RCTC's only other hit in the game, a two-out single in the top of the fourth, but she was stranded at first base.
Clark limited the Wildcats to two runs on five hits and a walk through the first four innings, but NDSCS broke the game open with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs on two hits, two walks and one RCTC error.
NDSCS right fielder Lara Dolezal, who entered the tournament batting .411 for the season, delivered the big blow for her team, connecting for a two-run double that pushed the Wildcats lead to 4-0. One batter later, an RCTC error allowed two more runs to score, making it a 6-0 game.
The Wildcats' top hitter, Avery Martin, drove in a pair of insurance runs in the sixth with a two-out, two-RBI single to extend the NDSCS lead to 8-0. The hit is Martin's 94th of the season and the RBIs are her 92nd and 93rd of the year.
BOX SCORE: NDSCS 8, RCTC 0
NJCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL TOURNAMENT BRACKET
