By ISAAC DEER
TopSports.news
Six home runs and a walkoff win Monday was everything Rossville's softball team had been working for.
Rossville’s offense boosted the Bulldawgs to 10-0 on the season and it was evident throughout the course of the 10-1, 9-8 doubleheader sweep over Silver Lake why that is the case.
Rossville's Vanesa Quinones (left), Kinsey Perine (middle) and Kinley Porter combined for six home runs in Monday's 10-1, 9-8 doubleheader sweep over Silver Lake. Perine hit three homers, Porter two and Quinones one roundtripper in the twinbill. [Photo by Isaac Deer/TSN]
Kinley Porter, who didn’t have a home run on the season, hit two home runs against the Eagles, including the walk-off home run in Game 2 to give Rossville the sweep.
“Today was the first time I’ve ever hit a home run and the fact that I hit two tonight, it was special,” Porter said. “In practice, we practice every outcome and visualize winning games. We put our practice into real-life tonight and it paid off.”
The Monday home run derby was led by Kinsey Perine, who had a combined three home runs in the doubleheader.
“I stayed relaxed with each at-bat,” Perine said. “I had faith in our team and coaching. That’s five home runs for me now and I’m having fun.”
Corban University commit Vanesa Quinones also hit a long ball in Rossville’s Game 2 win after pitching a stellar game in the first game of the doubleheader.
“I’m proud of myself, but I’m more proud of our team,” Quinones said. “We have a team full of underclassmen that play like four-year starters. It was cool to see our girls start and finish strong.
“I’m lucky to be a senior on this team and lead such a talented group of girls.”
Rossville didn’t fold when the pressure was on in the back and forth slugfest in the second game.
Rossville coach John Nitsch said he had full confidence in his group that they wouldn’t crumble under the pressure.
“I told them that if we pitch, hit and play defense like we are capable of, we wouldn’t have any problems,” Nitsch said. “Our hitting is starting to come around more and that helps when our pitching and defense are playing as well as they are.”
The 10-1 victory for Rossville in the first game was led by the arm of Quinones, who pitched the entire seven-inning contest while only giving up a single run in the fourth inning.
Rossville was able to tally eight runs on the board before the third inning, including five runs in the first inning.
Perine had a home run, Brinley Dyche had a double and Rossville also scored on groundouts and a sacrifice fly.
Back-to-back doubles by Perine and Dyche in the bottom of the second inning and two errors by Silver Lake brought three runs home for Rossville.
That would be all Rossville needed to secure a 10-1 victory.
Game 2 would end up being a memorable game for both teams, with five lead changes and four instances where the game was tied.
Silver Lake had the hot start early in the second game, scoring four runs in the top of the first inning.
Kira Lowrey gave Silver Lake their first run with a single and Taylor Zordel would clear the traffic on the bases with a two-run triple. Lauren Rollenhagen would finish the four-run inning off with a run-scoring single.
For the second game in a row, Perine would lead off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run. That solo shot gave Rossville momentum going forward.
In the bottom of the second inning, Porter would hit the first home run of her life bringing herself and Emma Mitchell in to score. Rossville would only trail by one run at that point.
Perine would tie things up at 4-4 in the bottom of the third with her third home run of the day.
Quinones would follow Perine and Porter with a two-run home run of her own in the bottom of third bringing, Caylee Douglas home.
But Silver Lake wouldn’t give up, even after Rossville’s momentum-killing home runs.
In the top of the fourth, Kaibryn Kruger would delivered a run-scoring double to bring Silver Lake within one run. Taryn Burkhardt would follow Kruger and bring her home with a single. Gracie Trammel would keep the line moving with a one-run single of her own as Silver Lake regained the lead, 7-6.
In the bottom of the fifth, the game would be tied again as Mitchell singled to score Perine.
With the bases loaded, Silver Lake would give Rossville a free run with a walk.
With the pressure at its highest, Kendra Cook had the bases loaded with Rossville looking to break away with the lead. Cook kept her composure and left the Rossville runners stranded in the bottom of the fifth.
Silver Lake was two outs away from going home in the top of the seventh until Zordel hit a deep solo home run out into the left-field corner.
Zordel gave Silver Lake another chance at winning the game, forcing Rossville to compete for another inning.
With two outs down in the bottom of the seventh, Porter would hit a solo homerun and would be greeted by all of her teammates at home plate while they celebrated a hard-earned victory.
Rossville (10-0) will travel on Thursday to take on St. Marys. Silver Lake (4-2) will host Wabaunsee on Thursday.
First Game
ROSSVILLE 10, SILVER LAKE 1
Silver Lake 000 100 0 – 1
Rossville 530 002 0 – 10
W – Quinones. 2B -- Rossville: Dyche 2, Perine, Douglas. HR -- Rossville: Perine.
Second game
Silver Lake (4-2) 400 300 1 – 8
Rossville (10-0) 123 200 1 – 9
W – Quinones. L – Cook. 2B -- Silver Lake: McDaniel, Sterling, K. Kruger. Rossville: Dyche. 3B -- Silver Lake: Zordel. HR -- Silver Lake: Zordel. Rossville: Perine 2, Porter 2, Quinones.
