Sloppy field conditions too much for RVSL stars
Published 2:06 am Monday, August 9, 2010
SOUTH BEND, IN — In the song “A Boy Named Sue,” Johnny Cash sings how Sue and and father crash into the street “kicking and a’ gouging in the mud and the blood and the beer.”
Sounds like quite a mess, but it was nothing compared to the conditions the Rock Valley Senior League All-Star softball team faced as they lost 14-4 to Michigan in the Central Regional Tournament semifinals Wednesday.
The Ohio state champions went up 1-0 in the first inning on a one-out solo home run by Courtney Duncan.
But a rainstorm hit a batter later and field conditions took a turn for the worse.
“The field was a mess and we couldn’t make the plays,” said Rock Valley coach Darren Schug. “We lost our catcher in the second inning and that forced us to shift our defense around and that hurt us as well.”
Between the field conditions and makeshift defense, Ohio had six errors that led to 12 of Michigan’s runs.
Michigan used two errors to score five runs in the second inning, but Rock Valley came back to get three runs in the third.
BreeAnna Depriest singled and Morgan Schug followed with a run-scoring double. Hannah Maynard doubled home Schug and then she scored following an error and a passed ball.
But three errors in the fifth inning enabled Michigan to score six runs and take an 11-4 lead. Three more runs scored in the sixth to end the game and Rock Valley’s tournament run.
“We played as sloppy as the field we were on,” said Schug. “But I was proud of our girls. They never quit the whole tournament. We made a nice run. Anytime you get to the Final Four, you’ve done something.”
Duncan and Maynard each went 2-3, Schug 1-2 and Depriest 1-3 to account for Rock Valley’s six hits.
Ohio 103 000 = 4 6 6
Michigan 050 063 = 14 11 1
Morgan Schug, Rachel Murnahan (5) and Vicki Donley, Hannah Maynard (3). Amsbury and Johnson. W-Amsbury. L-Schug. 2B-Rock Valley: Morgan Schug, Hannan Maynard. HR-Rock Valley: Courtney Duncan. Hitting-Rock Valley: Courtney Duncan 2-3, Hannah Maynard 2-3, Morgan Schug 1-2, BreeAnna Depriest 1-3.