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Raiders’ big inning leads to 10-0 rout of Bulldogs
By brandon judeh
BEAVER TOWNSHIP
The South Range softball team used an eight-run sixth inning to close out rival East Palestine, 10-0, in six innings Thursday to advance to the Division III district final.
South Range (25-2), already leading 2-0, gained the momentum for good when Morgan Renforth was safe at first after a dropped third strike and base runner Carly DeRose made a heads-up play and scored from second base.
The whacky inning continued with a bunt double by Jordan Youngs and a towering two-run home run by Darrian Yanek.
“That was a huge inning for us, especially with the game being so close and with East Palestine being such a good team they could have come back at any time,” DeRose said.
The big inning may not have mattered because DeRose was on fire.
The senior was nearly unhittable, allowing only one hit and striking out nine.
“Carly’s going to throw her pitches and hit her spots,” South Range coach Don Feren said. “When she does that she’s pretty much unhittable. She had some hand problems the last two weeks, but we straightened her out and she’s pitching very well.”
DeRose also did well at the plate, going 2 for 4 with a big RBI double in the final inning.
Though the Bulldogs (11-17) saw their season end, starting pitcher Karly Pence nearly matched DeRose pitch-for-pitch.
“We made some mistakes out there, but I thought we swung the bats a little better tonight than we did the other two times we played them this season,” East Palestine head coach Dan McKinstry said. “We just couldn’t string anything together offensively. I just feel really bad for our seniors.”
The Bulldogs’ current seniors never beat South Range.
“It’s a good feeling to beat a rival every time since your freshman year,” DeRose said. “I think it shows how hard our team has worked throughout the years.”
The Raiders struck early as a Renforth triple led to a Jordan Youngs RBI single to put South Range on the board first.
Later in the inning Renforth made a smart play on a throwing error to third and came around to score to give the Raiders a 2-0 lead.
Pence struck out eight. Logan Gatchel had the loan hit for East Palestine.
The Raiders’ Stevie Taylor knocked in two runs with a double. Youngs finished the night 3 for 3 with an RBI and Taylor Helon had a run-scoring double.
South Range will meet Ursuline in a district final at 5 p.m. today. The Irish rallied to beat Newton Falls, 7-6.
DeRose says that whether it was Ursuline or Newton Falls, she and her teammates have just have one thing in mind: a return to regionals.
After making the regional tournament in 2010 and 2011 the Raiders were upset by the Tigers last year.
“We are looking forward to the challenge of getting back to the regional tournament,” De Rose said. “It’s been on our minds all year.”