| Rockets Qualify for ASA Gold Nationals!
June 14, 2009
The Rockets made their first-ever appearance at a GOLD qualifier this weekend at the Heartland Showcase, a regional qualifier for the ASA GOLD Nationals. This was a double elimination tournament.
The Rockets faced the Oklahoma Exclusive for the first game on Friday evening. Brittany Lang took the circle to start the game. There isn't much to say about this game, other than the Rockets were flat, and the Exclusive pitcher was hot. Hailie Ray came in for relief in the fifth inning. The Rockets made a valiant effort in the 7th inning loading the bases, but fell short. The Rockets only managed four hits and two walks in this game, as they lost the tournament opener 0-3.
Disappointed in their own performance on Friday night, the Rockets came to play on Saturday. Facing Team Indiana in their first elimination game, Lindsey Muller got the start for the Rockets. Team Indiana scored a run in the first inning on four hits. The Rockets tied the score in the fourth inning on a leadoff triple by Rosie Hull and a sacrifice fly by Muller. They scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on another triple by R Hull and an RBI single by Kendall Patterson. The Rockets defense took care of Indiana to close out the game with a 2-1 win.
Still facing elimination, the Rockets faced the Tulsa Shootout. Hailie Ray took the circle for the Rockets. The Shootout came out hot, scoring two runs on four hits and a walk in the top of the first inning. The Rockets answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning on a single by Rosie Hull, an RBI single by Lauren Himpel, a hit batter (Patterson), and an RBI fielders choice by Maggie Hull. The Rockets took control in the second inning, scoring four runs on a solo home run by Rachel Hay, a single by Shelby Erickson, a single by Kellie White and a three-run home run by Rosie Hull. They added another two runs in the fourth inning on a single by Hull, a walk (Himpel), and a two-RBI single by Lindsey Muller. White came in for relief to start the fifth inning. Shootout scored a run in the fifth inning on one hit and an error. The Rockets put the game out of reach in the sixth inning scoring another two runs on a fielders choice by Himpel, Patterson reached on an error to score Himpel, and Muller doubled to score Patterson. The Rockets won this contest 10-3.
The final game on Saturday was against the Homer Hawks, who had already eliminated the Zephyrs and the Midland Magic. Lindsey Muller got the start for the Rockets. The Rockets scored a run in the bottom of the first inning on a walk by Rosie Hull, an error, and a 2-out RBI single by Muller. They added another run in the third inning on an error (Rosie Hull), a sacrifice bunt by Rachel Hay, and another defensive error (Kendall Patterson) to score Hull. They continued with another run in the fourth inning on a single by Shelby Erickson and an RBI single by Rosie Hull. The fifth inning was more of the same... Another run on a walk by Muller (Hailie Ray ran for Muller), a sacrifice with an error (Patterson), a single by Maggie Hull and an RBI sacrifice fly by Britny Cushing. The Hawks managed two runs in the sixth inning on two hits and a walk. Hailie Ray came for relief in the seventh inning. The Hawks were threatening, scoring another run on one hit, a walk, and two Rockets errors. Muller returned to the circle to close out the game, leaving the bases loaded.
The Rockets had just left Hidden Valley park a mere 6 hours before they had to return to face Indy Dreams. Indy had just fallen from the Elite 8 in the winners bracket the night before, after losing to the Originals. Muller took the circle for the Rockets. The Rockets drew first blood, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first inning on a single by Lauren Himpel, a single by Rosie Hull and a 3-run home run by Lindsey Muller. They added a run in the second inning on a single by Himpel, a fielders choice by Janessa Swinney, a hit batter (Rosie Hull) and an RBI single by Rachel Hay. Indy scored a run in the top of the third inning on four hits. The Rockets answered by scoring another four runs in the bottom of the fourth on a single by Maggie Hull, a bunt by Shelby Erickson, an RBI single by Himpel, a 2-RBI triple by Rosie Hull and an RBI double by Hay. Kellie White came in for relief to start the fifth inning. The Rockets scored another run in the bottom of the fifth on a single by Erickson, a sacrifice bunt by Himpel, a sacrifice bunt by White, a walk by R Hull and an RBI single by Hay. The Rockets won this game 9-1.
The Illinois Southern Force was another team from the Elite 8, who had just eliminated the Illinois Chill. The Rockets were no longer satisfied with just having made it to Sunday after their rough start. They now had their hearts and minds set on finishing this thing on top. Lindsey Muller got the call again for the Rockets. The Force scored a run in the top of the first inning on two hits. The Rockets took the lead in the bottom of the inning on a walk by Lauren Himpel, a single by Janessa Swinney and a two-RBI double my Muller. The Force tied the score in the third inning on one hit and a two-out error. The Rockets took control in the fifth inning, scoring two more runs on a 2-out single by Rosie Hull, a hit batter (Muller), and an error. They added another run in the sixth inning on a bunt by Maggie Hull, a sacrifice bunt by Britny Cushing and an RBI single by Shelby Erickson. The Southern Force came back to tie the score in the top of the seventh inning on four hits and a Rockets error. The Rockets executed perfectly in the international tie-breaker, as they took out the lead runner at third base on a sacrifice bunt attempt. With Cushing on second base, Erickson laid down a bunt and reached first base. Himpel walked, and Janessa Swinney hit an RBI single to end the game. The Rockets won this game 6-5 in eight innings.
|
|
 The Rockets started on Saturday morning with eight games to win, but now on Sunday afternoon, they had knocked that down to just three more. The field of 32 teams had been narrowed to just six.
The Rockets now faced an all-to-familiar foe in the Peppers, who had embarrassed the Rockets earlier this season, and had just recently defeated the Rockets in the championship game in another tournament. Hailie Ray took the circle for the Rockets, who scored a run in the bottom of the first inning on a bunt by Himpel, a sacrifice bunt by Swinney and two wild pitches. They scored another two runs in the second inning on a single by Shelby Erickson, a single by Himpel, a sacrifice bunt by Swinney an RBI single by Rosie Hull, and an error. They made it 5-0 in the third inning on a double by  Rachel Hay, a bunt by Maggie Hull, an RBI single by Britny Cushing, and an RBI single by Shelby Erickson. The Peppers brought the game back into reach in the fourth inning, scoring three runs on four hits. Kellie White came in for relief to close out the inning for the Rockets. The Rockets added another run in the bottom of the fourth on a bunt by Rosie Hull, a sacrifice bunt by Muller and an RBI sacrifice bunt by Rachel Hay. The Peppers answered with a run in the top of the fifth inning on three hits and a Rockets error. Ray came back in to close out the fifth inning. The Rockets scored another run in the bottom of the inning on a bunt by Maggie Hull and an RBI single by Shelby Erickson. The Peppers threatened in the seventh inning, scoring a run on two hits, but were shut down by the Rockets defense. The Rockets won this game 7-5.
Now just two games away from winning their first-ever GOLD Qualifier, on their first-ever attempt, the Rockets forgot all about the heat, lack of sleep, hunger, bumps and bruises. The focused on the prize as the faced another familiar adversary in the Wichita Mustangs. Brittany Lang got the start for the Rockets. The Mustangs scored a run in the bottom of the first inning on two hits  and a Rockets error. The Rockets tied the score in the top of the fourth inning on a bunt by Rosie Hull, a single by Lindsey Muller and an RBI bunt by Rachel Hay. They took the lead in the top of the fifth inning, scoring a run on a walk by Shelby Erickson, a single by Lauren Himpel, a single by Janessa Swinney and an RBI walk by Rosie Hull. The Mustangs broke it open in the bottom of the sixth inning on a walk and three hits, scoring three runs. Not willing to let their hard work go for nothing, the Rockets re-took the lead, scoring three runs in the top of the seventh inning on an error (Himpel), an RBI single by Swinney, an RBI single by Lindsey Muller (Kellie White ran for Muller) and an RBI double by Rachel Hay. The Mustangs only managed one hit in the final frame, as Lang struck out the final batter for the 5-4 win.
 If you have never been a part of an underdog or a long-shot effort, you have no idea about the feelings that were going through the stands, the players, the parents, the coaches and the fans. What seemed only 24 hours ago to be the impossible, was now only one win away.
The Originals were undefeated until the semi-final game, when they lost to the undefeated Team Intensity from New Jersey. They were no doubt more rested than the Rockets. They would have had plenty of time to get something healthy and refreshing to eat on this championship day. They had only played two games so far on this Sunday.
None of that would matter as the Rockets were determined to finish this come-back of a lifetime. Brittany Lang got the start again for the Rockets. Both teams were flawless through four innings, but the Rockets scored two runs in the fifth inning on a single by Britny Cushing, a fielders choice by Lauren Himpel, an Originals error and an RBI fielders choice by Janessa Swinney. That would be more than enough as the Rockets defense shut down the Originals and won their birth to the ASA Gold Nationals with this 2-0 win.
Some Highlights from this weekend:
-
Batting
Rosie Hull led the Rockets at the plate, hitting an amazing .607 with a slugging average of 1.000 with 12 runs scored and 8 RBI's. The team batting average was an impressive .330 for the weekend. Shelby Erickson, Lauren Himpel, Lindsey Muller, Rachel Hay, Maggie Hull and Kellie White all batted above the team average for the weekend.
-
Running
Lauren Himpel led this category going 6 for 6 on stolen bases and scoring 10 runs.
-
Fielding
The team recorded 9 errors in 9 games. All in all, a pretty good weekend for the defense with a .966 fielding percentage. Rachel Hay, Brittany Lang, Lindsey Muller, Kendall Patterson, Hailie Ray, Janessa Swinney and Kellie White all had no errors for the weekend.
-
Pitching
Lindsey Muller led the pitching squad with a 1.5 ERA after 23+ innings of work. Brittany Lang was close behind with 18 innings and a 1.94 ERA. Kellie White had a 0.0 ERA in her 3+ innings of relief work. The pitching squad recorded a 2.03 ERA for the weekend.
|
