RISING SUN — Two heavy storms battered Rising Sun’s softball field Thursday.
The first was a 30-minute downpour in the afternoon that pushed the start of the Class A sectional final back by an hour.
The second was the Hauser Jets. That one did far more damage.
Tessa Sims pitched a one-hitter and got plenty of offensive help from every part of the lineup as Hauser forced the sun to set on the Class A No. 3 Shiners with a 10-0 rout in a game that had been expected to be much, much closer.
“I felt like we had a lot more intensity today than we did (Tuesday), which we talked about in practice,” said freshman outfielder Taylor Henderson, who went 3 for 3. “We brought all we could bring today.”
The Class A No. 1 Jets (24-0), the defending state champions, will play in the Edinburgh Regional next Tuesday evening against the host Lancers.
After stranding a runner on third in the bottom of the first, Hauser got on the board in the second when Abby Kidwell drew a leadoff walk and came in from third on a two-out single by freshman Taylor Henderson.
That would have been sufficient for Tessa Sims, who struck out eight without a walk and was in command throughout.
But then, in the third, the floodgates opened.
Leslie Sims beat out a leadoff bunt, stole second and beat a throw to the plate on a fielder’s choice bunt by Hailey Lange. A pair of errors produced another run and put two more runners on base for Sydney Schoen, who ripped a triple to the wall in right-center field to make it 5-0. Schoen then scored on a groundout.
“We just stayed patient at the plate,” Schoen said, “and we took our corrections that the coach gave us and we applied them.”
Leading off again in the fourth, Leslie Sims reached on an infield hit, took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored when Lange doubled off the top of the center-field fence. Sidney Giles followed with a base hit.
Lange scored on a Kidwell bunt, and Schoen made it 9-0 when she doubled to score Giles.
The final run came in the fifth, when Henderson led off with a single, took second on a bunt hit by Lauryn Starnes and scored on a two-out error, Rising Sun’s fourth of the game.
The next hurdle for the Jets, winners of 33 straight, will be an Edinburgh team that lost at Hauser, 8-5, on May 5.
Despite having beaten the Lancers before, Hauser isn’t taking anything for granted.
“We just have to remember to take it one game at a time,” Tessa Sims said, “because everyone’s trying to get us.”
So far, nobody has.
Hauser 10, Rising Sun 0 (5 innings)
Rising Sun;000;00;—;0;1;5
Hauser;015;31;—;10;9;1
WP: Tessa Sims. LP: Tiffany Vinup. 2B: Hailey Lange (H), Sydney Schoen (H). 3B: Schoen (H).
Records: Hauser 24-0; Rising Sun 17-6.
