The Rockets have finished their winter season in winning style!  In January, the team traveled to St. Louis and capped off a perfect record of 6-0 by defeating the KC Wahoos.  Then February found the girls heading north to Omaha where the wind chills had no effect on the Rockets hot winning streak indoors!  The team had yet another 6-0 tournament win by beating the KC Impact in the championship game.  Not one runner made it to third base against the Rockets defense all weekend!  Now that the winter season is winding down, the high school games are fast approaching.  Keep an eye on the Rocket girls at their respective varsity games.  They will definitely be the ones to watch.  Way to start off 2007 Rockets!  As we look forward to a very exciting 2007 summer season, stay healthy and stay strong.  Go Rockets!

The Rockets started their summer season at the 2007 Memorial Day tournament in Kansas City.  21 teams from Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Arkansas competed.
Some highlights from pool play games on Saturday and Sunday:
KC ELITE: WIN 11-2      To start the first tournament game back from their highschool season, Lindsey Muller hit a 2 run homerun in the first game  of the first inning to get the rockets offense going.  8 of the 11 runs came in the 6th inning when Muller hit another 3 run homerun and Kendra Wright had a double.  Lindsey Muller also got the victory on the mound striking out 7.
NWA Thunder: Lost 1-2     The offense went quiet as the only offense the rockets could put together was a homerun in the 3rd by Britny Cushing.  Kendra Wright and Brittney Lang connected for singles, but the rockets couldn't put any offense together.  Brittney Lang got the loss striking out 12 and giving up 1 hit. 
NE Blue Diamonds:  WIN 8-5     The offense got back on track as Janessa Swinney lead the hitting with 2 singles and Shelby Miller drilled a double.  Lindsey Muller got the victory striking out 6 and getting help from Pitcher Kaley Patterson during 6th inning.
Central Mo. Crush WIN 7-1    Kendra Wright got things going against the Crush in the first inning with a single, followed by Kendal Patterson and Britny Cushing both getting singles.  In the 2nd inning the Rockets continued to roll with a lead off double by Brittney Lang, followed by Shelby Miller, Kaley Patterson, Marissa Tetuan and Taryn Dickerson all getting on base.  Kendall Patterson lead the hitting with 2 singles in the game.  Rachel Hay, Shelby Erickson, Janessa Swinney, and Shelby Miller all singled to help get the victory over the Crush.  Brittney Lang got the victory giving up 1 hit and striking out 10.
Belles:  WIN 7-0     The homeruns continued as Kendall Patterson got a 1st inning Homerun to keep the Rockets offense on fire.  Marissa Tetuan and Taryn Dickerson both hit singles, Rachel Hay hit a double and Lindsey Muller hit a 3 run homerun in the 3rd to help the Rockets score 6 runs in the victory.  Lindsey Muller got the victory with 6 strikeouts.
Omaha Sluggers:  WIN 2-0     Kendall Patterson lead the team with 2 hits in the last pool play game, Britny Cushing, Brittney Lang, Kaley Patterson and Janessa Swinney all singled to aid in the victory.  Brittney Lang got the victory striking out 6.

Tournament Play:
St. Louis Fusion  WIN 6-1     Janessa Swinney was hot with the bat during the first game of tournament play hitting a triple and getting 2 RBI's in the win.  Kaley Patterson and Lindsey Muller also hit 2 singles.  Lindsey Muller got the victory striking out 11 and allowing 2 hits.
Olathe hammers  WIN 5-1     The 4th inning is when the Rockets bats came alive.  Rachel Hay lead off the inning with a double to get the Rockets going, followed by singles from Shelby Miller, Brittney Lang, Shelby Erickson and Kendall Patterson.  Taryn Dickerson got down an awesome sac bunt  and Lindsey Muller also doubled to score 5 runs in the inning.  Brittney Lang got the victory with 8 K's.
Semi-Finals: vs.  Lasers  WIN 4-3     The Lasers gave the Rockets a tough game and were leading 3-0 after the first inning.  Rachel Hay hit a solo homerun in the 2nd to make it 1-3, Britney Cushing hit a solo homerun in the 4th to make it 2-3 and as time had expired in the bottom of the 6th inning the rockets had a championship in mind.  Kendra Wright lead off the bottom of the inning with a double and with 1 out Lindsey Muller would come to the plate and hit a 2 run walk off homerun to send the Rockets to the championship.  Muller and Lang combined for the victory.
FINALS: vs. NE Sluggers  WIN 4-0      The Rockets finished what they started.  Muller hit another 2 run homerun in the finals.  Rachel Hay and Shelby Miller hit doubles and Shelby Erickson and Kendall Patterson had singles.  Brittney Lang got the victory striking out 14 and only allowing 1 runner to reach base.

The Rockets scored 52 runs and gave up 14 and finished the weekend 9-1

Homeruns for the weekend:
Lindsey Muller-5, Britney Cushing-2Rachel Hay-1, Kendall Patterson-1

      The first game of the double elimination tournament was against the eventually runner up team of the tournament.  The Rockets would get off to a great start sending them to the loser bracket in a 3-2 victory.  Shelby Miller would lead the first inning off with a walk, followed by a sac bunt by Kendra Wright.  Kendall Patterson would be hit by a pitch in the first inning and eventually score to get the Rockets on top.  The Nighthawks almost tie the game in the bottom of the inning, but a great effort and throw by Rachel Hay on first to the catcher Kendall Patterson would end the inning.  The Rockets again scored in the 4^th inning.  Britny Cushing and Rachel Hay would both reach base on singles.  Shelby Erickson put the ball in play to score Britny Cushing on a fielder’s choice.  The Nighthawks would score 1 in the bottom of the inning, but their rally ended with a great throw from Britny Cushing from left field to Kendall Patterson at home.  It was 2-2 as the game went into an international tiebreaker putting Taryn Dickerson on 2^nd with some wheels.  She would eventually score on a 2 out single by Rachel Hay to give the Rockets the go ahead run.  The defense prevailed in the bottom of the inning as Lindsey Muller and Brittney Lang would combine for the victory

     In the second game, the Rockets would face the Victory USA team from California.  There was little offense during the game as the Rockets only managed 3 hits during the game.  It looked as if the Rockets my take the lead in the 3^rd inning as Janessa Swinney and Shelby Miller hit back to back singles.  Miller’s bat was hot as she managed to get 2 of the Rockets 3 hits in the game.  The Rockets defense was just as tough and matched the California team inning by inning, only allowing 4 hits.  For the 2^nd game in a row, the game came down to an international tiebreaker.  The Rockets put Marissa Tetuan on 2^nd base.  Lindsey Muller would walk and Britny Cushing would come up with a HUGE sac bunt to move the runners into scoring position.  Rachel Hay would next walk to load the bases.  Brittney Lang would come to the plate and put the ball in play, however Marissa’s speed would cause the play at the plate to be too late as the Rockets won 1-0.  Brittney Lang would get the shutout, going the full 7 innings striking out 6.

     The third game would come late in the day as the Rockets faced the Wahoos.  The big rally came in the 4^th inning as Janessa Swinney, Kendra Wright, Kendall Patterson and Kaley Patterson would all get singles and Rachel Hay a double to put the Rockets up four to nothing.  Shelby Miller also laid down a sacrifice bunt.  Brittney Lang would get the win striking out 11 in the night cap or should I say morning because it was after midnight.

     Sunday didn’t prove to be the Rockets day as they would lose the opener to the eventual champions 0-3.  The only offense came from Lindsey Muller who hit a double and Britny Cushing and Rachel Hay both hitting singles.  Brittney Lang would get the loss and struck out 5 in 3 innings and giving up 5 hits.  Kaley Patterson put the Cruisers to a stop in the last 2 innings striking out 2. 

     The Rockets would end where they started, playing the Nashville Nighthawks who had made their way through the losers bracket to meat up again with the Olathe Rockets for the chance to go to the championship.  However, the game had a different outcome as the Nighthawks went away with the victory 3-6.  Shelby Miller, Kendra Wright and Kaley Patterson all had singles, Britny Cushing a double and the highlight of the offense came in the form of a 3 run homerun by Kendall Patterson in the 6^th inning but it just wasn’t enough for the Rockets.  Brittney Lang would get the loss with 3 strikeouts. 

NEXT UP FOR THE ROCKETS:

JUNE 9-10 ASA HALL OF FAME QUALIFIER, Olathe, KS.

June 16-17 ASA NATIONAL QUALIFIER, Rogers, MN.

16A National/Hall of Fame Qualifier
     Eighteen teams from Kansas and Missouri competed this weekend at Lone Elm Park in Olathe, Kansas.  The Rockets finished fifth.  The first game in the double elimination brackets was against the KS Komotion.  Britny Cushing would start the rally right away in the first inning with a single and would be the Rockets first run of the game.  Marisa Tetuan laid down the sacrifice bunt to move her to second, Kendall Patterson would put the ball in play to move her to third and Lindsey Muller would hit a single to make the score 1-0 in the first inning.  Rachel Hay hit a double in the 4^th inning but the Rockets could not score her.  The 5^th inning would prove different as Britny Cushing rallied with two outs and hit a double and Marisa Tetuan would driver her in with a single to put the Rockets up 2-0.  The Komotion’s hope of coming back in the top of the 6^th was put to a stop with a 5-4-3 DOUBLE PLAY.  Shelby Miller(3^rd base), Shelby Erickson(Shortstop, and Rachel Hay(1^st base).  Brittney Lang would get the shutout striking out 9 batters.

     The second game would not go the Rockets way, losing 0-3 to the St. Louis Chaos, the eventual Champions of the tournament.  The defense held the Chaos through 5 innings.  Janessa Swinney started the 1^st inning with a heads up play.   The runner on first headed towards second, she must have thought the ball was going to be down for a single but Janessa made the catch and then threw the girl out trying to get back to the base.  Kendall Patterson hit a single in the 1^st inning, Lindsey Muller and Shelby Erickson hit doubles in the 4^th and 5^th respectively, but that was the only offense the Rockets could come up with.  Lindsey Muller went 5 innings and Brittney Lang 2 innings.

      The third game the Rockets faced the Wahoos and would come away with a 4-2 win.  The Rockets didn’t strike until the 3^rd inning when Shelby Miller lead off the inning with a single, followed by a sac bunt by Marisa Tetuan and then Janessa Swinney would hit the double to score Miller.  Shelby Miller would again get the rally going in the 5^th inning reaching first on an error, followed by a sac bunt again by Marisa Tetuan and this time Shelby Erickson would get the RBI double to bring the score to 2-2.  The 6^th inning Kendra Wright would start the inning, advance on a sac bunt by Britny Cushing and score on a single by Lindsey Muller.  With 2 outs Kendall Patterson would come up to the plate and rip a single to score Muller to bring the score to 4-2.  It looked as if the Wahoos might rally, but Shelby Miller(third base) put a damper on their offense with a 5-4-3 double play.  Brittney Lang went 3 1/3 innings and Lindsey Muller went 3 2/3 innings with Lindsey Muller getting the win.

     Sunday morning it looked as if it would be a good day for the Rockets, only 8 teams remaining.  First up, the KC Elite.  Shelby Miller hit a HOMERUN in the 2^nd inning to start the offense. Janessa Swinney, Kaley Patterson, Lindsey Muller, Rachel Hay, Shelby Miller, Shelby Erickson would all hit singles during the game to aid in the 8-1 Victory.  Lindsey Muller would get the victory, striking out 3 batters.

      The Rockets would lose a heartbreaker 0-1 to end the quest for their national birth at this tournament.  The Aces would score 1 run in the first inning and manage just 2 hits in the game, but that is all they needed.  Rachel Hay, Marisa Tetuan, and Kendra Wright hit singles but the Rockets could not put enough hits together to score a run.  Brittney Lang would get the loss pitching 6 2/3 innings and striking out 7 and Lindsey Muller pitched 1/3 inning.

NEXT UP:                      Metros June 23-24, Olathe, KS

Louisville Slugger Tournament June 27-July 1. Boulder, CO

Congratulations Olathe Rockets for winning the USSSA World Championship!!!
Our girls played their best softball ever in the stifling heat of Shawnee, Kansas.  This 16A team went undefeated throughout pool play and eliminations to attain their first national title.
Although the entire roster made contributions to win this prestegious tournament, special congratulations go out to:
All World Team: Brittney Lang, Kendall Patterson, Rachel Hay, and Lindsey Muller.
Most Outstanding Pitcher: Brittney Lang
All Tourney MVP: Kendall Patterson

Some favorite highlights from this season include the Rockets winning the KC Metros for a phenomenal FIFTH year in a row!!  It was a tough championship game, but the Rockets came out on top again.  Our trip to Boulder, CO for the national exposure tournament also brought the Rockets their best finish at this annual event.  Several of our players; including two pitchers, were suffering from injuries after many of them came straight off of very successful high school seasons straight into summer ball.  The Rockets took an unprecedented two weeks off, and came back as strong as ever for their amazing showing at the ASA 18A Nationals!

In the extreme humidity and high heat of Moline, IL the Rockets have finished out their 2008 summer season with their best showing ever at ASA Nationals.  Our girls are 17th in the nation after competing with, and defeating teams from all over the USA.  The tournament began with 120 teams that had to qualify earlier in the season just to attend!  The Rockets also finished the top Kansas City team at this prestigious event!

As the season comes to a close, we look forward to fall 2008 and summer 2009.  Sadly, we lose one player to the ranks of college ball who will be missed greatly.  Samantha has brought a lot of maturity, poise, and just about the brightest smile you'll ever see to the Rockets.  We wish you the best of luck in your collegiate career!  We will also be thinking of Cush as she too begins her new softball ventures at Washburn University along with Samantha.  Luckily, Cush will be young enough to return to the Rocket family again next year.  Congratulations to our committed players: Lindsey, Brittney, Rachel, Kendall, Rosie, and Maggie.  We look forward to attending your signings!

As the Rockets now enter a new realm of competition at the "Gold" level, we have no doubt that success will continue to be the Rocket routine.  Good luck with the fast approaching fall season!