NEW PALESTINE — The game was billed as the Class 4A softball state championship more than two weeks ahead of schedule, and neither the top-ranked New Palestine Dragons nor the No. 2 Roncalli Royals disappointed.
The second time in 25 days that the state’s top-two programs have met on the same field ended with the same score, 4-0.
Except this time, the Royals (26-2) found a way to win, needing a seventh-inning rally Tuesday to claim the anticipated rematch in front of a standing-room only crowd during the Sectional 11 semifinals at New Palestine High School.
“That’s what softball is supposed to be. Two great teams. It’s a shame that, as I told (Roncalli) coach (David) Lauck before the game, one of these teams are going to be done in May because when you’re looking at No. 1 and No. 2 facing each other, it’s going to be a close game. It’s going to come down to what I talked about with my team, a play here and a play there and a break,” New Palestine head coach Ed Marcum said.
During the regular season, on May 1, the Dragons (28-1) caught the breaks, utilizing their on-base speed, awareness, four hits and three Roncalli errors to claim a 4-0 victory en route to a 27-0 record.
The Royals turned the tables in the postseason, however, as sophomore ace Keagan Rothrock (19-2), a Florida recruit, avenged her first of two losses endured this spring.
Rothrock pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout with 15 strikeouts to halt New Palestine’s quest for perfection, ending the Dragons’ 37-game winning streak and unbeaten 2021 campaign.
“She’s capable of taking it up to another gear, and that’s why she’s special. That’s why she’s a Division I recruit. That’s why she’s ranked No. 1 in the country. That’s why she’s going to try out for the Junior Olympics. She’s just the whole package, and she’s an even better kid,” Lauck said.
Her poise and confidence led to just 25 batters faced, the first six retired — four in a row by strikeout — and a trio of three consecutive strikeouts to end three different innings.
Roncalli’s goal against New Palestine’s hitters was simple but no easy task.
The Royals kept the Dragons off the bases, and the five that did reach via a pair of errors, a hit batter, a walk and a single were left stranded, including four in scoring position.
The Dragons threatened, though, beginning in the bottom of the third.
Vivian Long reached base after being hit by a pitch, and a throwing error gave Alaina Miller, an Indiana recruit, first and second base. Long advanced to third base on the error, but Rothrock settled in and shut down the rally with a strikeout.
The Dragons had another opportunity in the bottom of the sixth as Miller drew a lead-off walk and was sacrificed to second base behind a bunt by Aglaia Rudd.
Lexi Campbell followed up with hard line drive to right-center field, but Royals’ center fielder Lyla Blackwell robbed the Dragons of a potential scoring chance.
“We got out of some jams and they got out of some jams. I thought the play of the game probably was in the bottom of the sixth inning,” Marcum said. “Lexi hits an absolute shot to right-center. I thought it was down, and they’re center fielder just made a spectacular, game-saving play. If that ball ends up getting down and gets in the gap, we score first and it’s a totally different deal.”
Campbell led off the bottom of the fourth by reaching first base on Roncalli’s second infield error, but she never got any farther as Rothrock struck out the next three hitters.
“We learned that you can’t give New Pal too much of a rope. When we started kicking it around that one inning and they got second and third, I thought, here we go. They’re going to take advantage of it like they did in the first game,” Lauck said.
“We talked about that. You can’t make mistakes. You have to go mistake free, and it’s hard to coach that way because mistakes are going to happen, but we have a tough resilient group, some seniors and we have Keagan Rothrock.”
The Dragons committed one error, but much like Roncalli, the miscues didn’t determine the outcome.
That designation fell upon Roncalli junior Courtney Keller, who entered the game in the top of the fifth as a pinch-hitter and led off the inning with a double.
Keller went 2-for-2 with two doubles, and drove in the first of four runs in the top of the seventh and no outs.
Roncalli had five runners left on base and prior to the seventh, Dragons’ ace Sam Booe stranded three of them, including two in scoring position.
Booe induced a line drive putout and a pop out after Rothrock connected for a one-out double in the top of the fourth. The Louisville recruit left Keller on third base in the fifth with two ground outs and a strikeout.
In the top of the sixth, a strikeout-throw out double play stymied the Royals after Blackwell reached first base on a one-out throwing error.
Booe (16-1) allowed eight hits, walked one, surrendered four earned runs and struck out six.
“Sam pitched her heart out. She’s had a great year, a great season, great career. I’m just proud of all of them. The seniors played hard,” Marcum said. “I’m really proud of all five of them.”
The Royals sent nine batters to the plate in the top of the seventh and took a 4-0 lead behind four hits, a hit batter and an intentional walk.
Roncalli loaded the bases three times, but beforehand, Keller made it 1-0 on a double to left field to score Kylie Freije, who led off the inning with a single that slipped past the Dragons’ outfield.
The Royals had two runners on base after Kaelin Cash was hit by a pitch, which setup Keller’s full-count, extra-base hit.
“Courtney is Courtney Keller, and she’s just a tough, tough kid,” Lauck said. “She didn’t start, and I thought, who can we have on the bench that can come out and give us a spark, and it’s Courtney Keller. That’s why she didn’t start and hasn’t started a lot this year, but you know she’s not going to be nervous and she’s built for games like this.”
The Dragons opted to load the bases and put Catherine Lehner on first after Keller’s hit, and a pop out followed by a fielder’s choice throw out at home kept it 1-0 with two outs.
Chloe Parks lined a two-run single to increase the lead 3-0 before Blackwell drove in the final run on a single.
“I thought we had (Keller) there on 2-2, but we couldn’t quite put her away, and she came through with the big hit for them. That’s the way this game works. You have to come up with the big hit when you need it,” Marcum said.
The Dragons got their hit from senior Kendal Calvert, who reached first base on a single, but Rothrock struck out the next two batters she faced.
“Rothrock was dominant tonight. She threw a lot of really good pitches, kept us off balance. I thought we would move her better than we did, but to her credit, there’s a reason she committed to Florida as early as she did,” Marcum said. “We just didn’t put enough balls into play tonight.”
The Dragons won 28 consecutive games in their first season at 4A after winning three consecutive 3A state titles from 2017-19. This year, they also secured their seventh straight Hoosier Heritage Conference title and fourth consecutive outright championship.
“It was an outstanding game. It stinks. We’re not used to being done this early, and my girls don’t know what it’s like to lose, obviously with going undefeated this season, but I knew this was going to be a tough game. We thought the first team to score was going to be the team to win, and it took until the seventh inning before they broke through,” Marcum said.
