Randolph Rocket softball (19-5) finished its season with a 2-2 record in the Section 2AA playoffs. The No. 5-seeded Rockets started with a 13-1 rout of No. 12 Waseca (5-15) on Tuesday, May 19, but then lost at No. 4 Fairmont (16-8) 6-4 on Thursday, which dropped them down to the elimination bracket.

Randolph made the familiar trip to North Mankato and Caswell Park, the home of the state tournament, for two games Saturday. They beat Tri-City United (10-9) 4-0 in the first game but then fell to No. 2 Le Sueur-Henderson (19-6) 9-7 to end the Rockets’ season.

Randolph held an early lead against Fairmont as they scored a run in both the top of the second and third innings to go up 2-0. Amelia Davis started the second inning with a solo home run and then in the third, Paige Otte singled, Kenzie Murray was hit by a pitch and Allie Gillette doubled to bring in Murray. Fairmont cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the third with an RBI-sacrifice fly and then went ahead 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI-single and two-RBI double. 

The Rockets tied the game in the top of the sixth when Gillette reached on a fielder’s choice, she was run for by Maddie Loritz, Davis singled and was run for by Grace Perry, Ruby Heiman singled to load the bases and both Loritz and Perry scored on a two-RBI single by Stella Pagel. The Cardinals took the final 6-4 lead in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI-double and RBI-sacrifice fly. 

Davis led the Randolph offense in the loss with two hits, including her solo home run, while Pagel drove in two runs. She also pitched 6 innings where she allowed 6 earned runs on 11 hits and 3 walks with 6 strikeouts.

The Rockets scored one run in the third inning and three runs in the fifth during their 4-0 shutout of Tri-City United. In the third inning, Aubree Hanson reached on an error, Tenley Otte walked and Hanson scored on an RBI-groundout by Gillette. Then in the bottom of the fifth, Tenley Otte drew a two-out walk and Gillette and Davis launched back-to-back home runs for the final three runs. 

Pagel pitched 7 innings of shutout ball where she gave up 6 hits and a walk with 6 strikeouts. Gillette drove in three runs to lead the Randolph offense and had two hits while Davis had her home run. Tenley Otte drew three walks.

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Ruby Heiman makes a running catch in center field for the Rockets. Martin Schlegel / Republican Eagle

The loss to Le Sueur-Henderson was back-and-forth with plenty of offense from both teams. The Giants scored three runs in the bottom of the first and another in the second to lead 4-0. The Rockets answered with four runs in the top of the third to tie the game when Murray singled and scored on an RBI-single by Tenley Otte. Gillette then doubled and was run for by Loritz. Tenley Otte scored on a ball put in play by Heiman, Loritz scored on a passed ball and then Heiman was driven in by Maya Preston on an RBI-single. 

Le Sueur-Henderson regained the lead in the bottom of the inning and went ahead 6-4. The Giants extended their lead to 8-4 in the bottom of the fourth before Randolph scored three runs in the top of the fifth. Davis led off the inning with a walk and was run for by Perry. Perry went to second on a passed ball and scored on an RBI-single from Preston. Courtney Siebenaler ran for Preston, Pagel singled and Siebenaler scored on a Giant error which saw Pagel  go to third base. Pagel then scored on an RBI-single from Paige Otte to make it 8-7 LSH. Le Sueur-Henderson scored one more run in the bottom of the sixth for the 9-7 final.

Murray, Preston and Pagel each had two hits in the loss while Preston drove in two runs. Pagel pitched the first 3 ⅔ innings and took the loss after giving up 8 runs (6 earned) on 12 hits. Davis threw the final  2 ⅓ innings and allowed an earned run on three hits. 

The Rockets bolted ahead of No. 12 Waseca by scoring 13 runs in the first two innings of their 13-1 win in five innings Tuesday at Silk Field to kick off the Section 2AA tournament.

The Rockets surrendered a run in the top of the first, but wasted little time showing off their bat to ball skills in the bottom half.

The first five batters in the inning reached safely. Gillette drove in two on a double. Heiman had an RBI-double and Preston followed with an RBI-single. The Rockets scored five runs before the first out was recorded. Ten batters came to the plate and six scored.

It was more of the same in the second. Preston had a two-run double. Pagel drove in a run on a double.

Waseca quickly changed pitchers after Pagel’s double. That didn’t phase the Rockets much as the first pitch from Hannah Rugger was lined though the infield by Paige Otte for a single. Tenley Otte later singled in a pair of runs to cap a seven-run inning.

The Rockets were kept scoreless in the third and fourth but not for a lack of contact. Davis hit one that appeared to be a home run, except it was hit to dead center, straight into the wind and died for a fly out just in front of the fence. Paige Otte hit a liner with high exit velocity right back to the pitcher for an out.

Besides scoring a run in the first inning on Hannah Sommers’ double, Waseca had its best scoring chance in the fourth when they loaded the bases with one out. Anna Benson lined a ball to Preston at second. The runners had come off the base just enough for Preston to get the inning ending double play at first.

Pagel worked around eight hits and a walk to hold the Bluejays to a run in five innings. She struck out three.

The offensive numbers piled up for the Rockets but Preston was the leader among the group, going 3-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.