The Streetsboro Rockets softball team has developed a lot of positive traits this season but one thing they have still struggled to overcome is getting off to a slow start. That trend continued when the Rockets lost 11-5 to Metro Athletic Conference rival Akron Springfield last Saturday afternoon at Veterans Field.
“That has been our Achilles all year,” said Coach LeRoy Moore. “We are struggling at the start of games and are putting ourselves in the hole. We are trying to find what the magic button or formula is to stop that, but we have not found it yet.”
After falling behind 6-0 in the first two innings to the Spartans, Streetsboro (11-14, 5-9) rallied to score two runs in the bottom of the third inning and had a chance do some real damage in the bottom of the fourth frame when it loaded the bases with no outs against Akron Springfield junior pitcher Joey Klein but failed to score.
In one of Streetsboro’s most exciting seasons in several years, one of its biggest strengths has been to never back down from a challenging situation.
“I think we have been really resilient,” noted junior first baseman Hailey Miller. “I think in every single game we have played, we have always come back harder in the end than we have started and I think that is something that we are really good at.”
Miller went two-for-four at the plate, including driving in a pair of runs in each of the Rockets’ big innings.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Rockets squandered what had the potential to be a big inning by not scoring.
Junior right fielder Naveah Monroe lined out to junior second baseman Kendall Crytzer, freshman second baseman Khloe Cutright hit a weak pop-up that evaded the junior catcher Meleana Martin’s glove but Klein scooped up the loose ball and stepped on home plate for the second out and freshman catcher Olivia DeToro grounded out to third base to end the inning.
“It was set up for us and we were just trying to turn the order over,” the first-year coach said. “The top of the order has been coming through for us lately but we just did not get that done. That was disappointing.”
While the Rockets consistently put runners on base, they stranded 12 players, including leaving seven in scoring position.
According to Miller, while Streetsboro has rallied in several games this season, there also have been times when the Rockets have allowed opposing pitchers off the hook by not producing the big hit.
“I think we get in our heads a lot,” she added. “When it happens once, we all seem to fall down with it.”
After Streetsboro left the bases loaded in the fourth inning, the Spartans responded by scoring three runs in the top of the fifth inning , highlighted by a RBI-single to left-center field off the bat of Sydney Hilliard and capped when sophomore shortstop Bre Ruggiero delivered a ground-rule two-run double down the left field line, pushing Akron Springfield’s lead to 9-2 to stay in control.
Despite mounting several more scoring threats and scoring three more runs in the next three innings, the Rockets were undone by allowing the Spartans to score three runs in each of the first two innings en route to being swept in the season series against their MAC foes.
While the Rockets will finish the season below the .500 mark it does not diminish what has been one of the most successful seasons in recent memory.
Moore acknowledged, it would have been easy to want to stay patient for two or three years after taking over a program that had only three victories in the previous season, but he set high expectations for his new squad and they delivered.
“When I took over, I knew some of the players and knew they had the capability and the athleticism to do it,” he said. “I am not waiting. This is something we can do this year and they have bought into that. You could see on Saturday that they battled back where in the past after they were down 6-0, they would have just given up and probably been mercy-ruled in five innings.”
Miller added that it has been a breath of fresh air for the Streetsboro program this season.
“I feel like I have already learned so much as an individual,” she said. “As a team, we have become closer together.”
If Streetsboro defeats Rocky River in the Ohio High School Athletic Association Division II Northeast 4 sectional championship on Thursday evening, it will compete in the district semifinal on May 14 at Firestone Stadium in Akron.
