Softball: Big inning propels Rock Falls past Princeton

ROCK FALLS – In a pitchers’ duel to open the softball season, one big inning was all Rock Falls needed Thursday in a 4-0 win over Princeton.

With Rockets senior Katie Thatcher and Tigresses freshman Reese Reviglio keeping hitters off-balance with a mix of speeds and locations, Rock Falls senior Brooke Howard had the big blow with a two-run triple in the second inning.

[ Photos of Rock Falls vs. Princeton softball ]

With Patty Teague on second and Maddison Morgan on first and two outs, Howard lined the second pitch of her second at-bat to the fence in right field to drive in her two teammates as she sprinted to third. She then scored on a ball-four wild pitch to Rylee Johnson for a 3-0 lead.

“I think the first two innings, we just had to see the pitches first, especially being the first game of the season,” Howard said. “Just seeing the pitching I think helped for the next time we came up to bat. We were ready for it, we just had to adjust.”

That was all the run support Thatcher needed. The Louisville recruit struck out 14, walked three and hit a batter in a one-hitter, pitching around a Princeton baserunner in each of the first four innings.

Junior catcher Olivia Osborne threw out a baserunner trying to steal to end the fifth, then Thatcher worked 1-2-3 innings in the sixth and seventh.

“It was great to come out for the first game and have everything working. Sometimes you have a bad pitch, but I think everything was on for me today,” Thatcher said. “It also sort of took me the first few innings to adjust to the umpire’s strike zone, because it’s always different, and especially the first game of the season, so once I got adjusted to that strike zone and started hammering it, it just went easy from there.”

Reviglio was just as sharp, especially in the middle innings. After allowing those three runs in the second, she set down the Rockets in order in each of the next three innings, throwing just 22 pitches total through the third, fourth and fifth frames as she got the Rock Falls hitters out in front and forced pop flies or ground balls.

She finished with two strikeouts and three walks in a complete game, allowing four earned runs and five hits in her first career varsity start.

“Moving it around, hitting it outside and then going right back with an inside pitch, I think it really got them,” Reviglio said. “I’ve been working this outside two-seam pitch, it’s kind of like a version of a curveball, and it was actually working really well today. They couldn’t get ahold of it, and if they did hit it, it was off the end of the bat and not a solid hit. I think in the middle innings if they got a solid hit, it was just me missing my spot, and that was my fault.”

Rock Falls (1-0) tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Zoe Morgan hit a hard shot to third base that was knocked down but not handled, then she moved to second on Savannah Fritz’s groundout. After a flyout, Patty Teague flipped an RBI single into short left field, and Morgan rounded third and headed for home.

The throw looked like it would be in time for a play at home, but it was out in front of the plate and there was no chance for a tag.

“It was the first game of the season, so I knew it was going to take awhile to get settled in,” Thatcher said. “So once we got the bats going … and we got those runs behind my back, I realized, ‘Hey, we’re good, we got this,’ and I could do my thing out there.”

Makayla Hecht had the lone hit for Princeton (0-1), a one-out double to right-center field in the top of the third. Hecht made it to third before being stranded, and two other baserunners were stranded on second for the Tigresses.

Howard and Teague each had two hits and a run scored for the Rockets, who were glad to finally get out on the field for a game after seeing their first several games called off due to cold or rainy weather.

“Of course that’s what you want, is to get out and play – and start with a win,” Howard said. “It’s good to have that, especially with all the practice we’ve been doing. It just all comes together in the first game.”