Rumbolt's Dinger Dodges Bullet for Hoosac
ADAMS, Mass. -- Tori Rumbolt made the Hoosac Valley softball team forget about the six errors it made on the day.The Hurricanes' sophomore came through for her team in a big way on Thursday, smashing a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning to help No. 4 Hoosac erase a two-run deficit and earn a 10-7 win over No. 5 Frontier in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 Western Massachusetts Softball Tournament.
Morgan Shafer's club started out well enough, taking a 5-0 lead after the first two innings at home, but the 'Canes (15-6) struggled in the field after that, allowing the Redhawks (15-6) the opportunity to score a combined seven runs in the fourth and fifth innings, only two of which were earned.
Rumbolt's blast to left center field gave Hoosac an 8-7 lead, and senior starter Amanda Meczywor did the rest, pitching a scoreless seventh inning to seal the win and improve her season record to 11-6. Meczywor allowed two earned runs on eight hits, striking out six without a walk in a complete-game effort. She also hit a first-inning home run and a double from the plate, batting 3 for 4 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored.
Rumbolt finished 2 for 4 with a pair of runs scored, while sophomore Ashley Ciepiela also drove in a run to go along with two hits of her own.
The Hurricanes won despite an uncharacteristic six errors on defense. Shafer said some of those errors were because of tough conditions in the outfield, while others were attributed to some of her players battling injuries in the infield.
Hoosac will have to clean up their defense before it's next game, however, as it faces a tough challenge against top-seeded Wahconah, which advanced with a 13-2 win over No. 8 Athol on Thursday. The Warriors now stand at 20-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming to the Hurricanes on April 20. Hoosac won 7-3 that day, but Wahconah came back with a 4-0 win nine days later.
The WMass. semifinal game is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will be played at Elms College in Chicopee.