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Scoring outburst leads Rockets to sweep of Eagles

Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Rapid River’s Natalie Belanger hits the ball against Stephenson Monday at Rapid River.

RAPID RIVER — It was one of the few decent days before another bout of weather strikes the Upper Peninsula, and the Rapid RIver girls’ softball team took full advantage. The Rockets swept a doubleheader against the Stephenson Eagles here Monday.

The first game ended 15-0 in Rapid River’s favor after three innings.

A strong performance from the Rockets’ Natalie Belanger on the mound gave the Eagles little room to maneuver. The Rockets pulled in four runs in the first inning and six in the second. A double to center from Rapid River’s Myah Pearson scored McKenzi Schram for its 15th run.

Belanger earned the win over two innings. She allowed one hit and struck out six. Cecilia Pilon pitched one inning in relief and struck two out. Belanger collected two hits, three runs and three RBIs. Ellie Moberg notched two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Myah Pearson finished with two hits, one run and a RBI.

“We’re just looking to do a little better in every game than the last one,” Rockets’ coach George Kaynuh said. “We were a little better today than we were last week against Superior Central, so it’s good to see that improvement. Our pitching was good again, and I can’t say enough about the hard work the pitchers put in, in the off-season.”

Stephenson’s Abby Anderson took the loss over two and a half innings. She allowed six hits, 13 runs and nine walks. Justine Havelka pitched in relief for half an inning and allowed one hit, two runs and one walk. She struck out one. Autumn Rasner collected one hit.

The second game began like a repeat of the first, but the Eagles fought back in the top of the fourth to notch three runs and cut their deficit to 12-3.

The Eagles started the fourth inning with a groundout, but Autumn Rasner stepped up to the plate and homered immediately after to collect one run.

After another groundout and a walk, Lily Thoune doubled on a fly to center that allowed Havelka to cross the plate. After another walk Thoune crossed home on a double to right field from Trisha Stanslawski. A walk loaded the bases, but a groundout ended their inning.

The Rockets scored six runs in the bottom of the fourth to push their lead to 18-3.

Belanger took the win over three innings. She struck out eight and walked one. Pilon pitched one inning in relief and allowed three hits, three runs and three walks. Kristen Goodacre finished the game with three hits, three runs and one RBI. Belanger collected two hits, two runs and two RBIs. Schwartz notched two hits and three RBIs.

Havelka took the loss for the Eagles, allowing 14 hits, 18 runs and nine walks. Rasner and Thoune finished with one hit, one run and one RBI. Starslawski collected one hit and one RBI and Havelka notched one run.

Kaynuh emphasized there was still work to do.

“We still have some things we need to work on, but if they put their nose to the grindstone, we’ll get to where we need to be come districts,” he said.

Despite the losses, Eagles’ coach Brad Rasner was happy with his team’s performance.

“These were our first games outside,” Rasner said. “For being our first time out and being a young team with only two seniors, it’s not bad considering those things. Our hitting is just going to take some time to work out.

“All-in-all I was proud of how the girls played. I just tried to tell them that once you hit the ball it becomes contagious, and I think you can see that with our second game. They didn’t give up, and they battled to the end.”

Rapid River hosts Munising Wednesday while Stephenson travels to Crivitz Saturday.

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