Reeths-Puffer went 1-1 at Saturday's home invitational, defeating Oakridge 10-5 before falling to the same team that knocked it out of last year's regional tournament - the No. 3-ranked Hudsonville Eagles - by a 13-2 margin.
The Rockets (15-5) broke open a close game in the fifth inning against Oakridge. Only up 2-1 at that point, R-P ripped off five runs, sparked by a two-run double from Tessa Ross and then an RBI double by Mady Snyder. Olivia Ambler added an RBI single later in the inning.
Snyder laced a run-scoring triple in the sixth to extend the Rockets' lead further, and Kyleigh Bilek drove her in with a single.
Bilek and Ambler each had three hits in the win, and Snyder, Lainey McDaniel and Abbie Critchett had two each, including Critchett's first-inning home run. Snyder also earned the win in the circle, allowing three earned runs on eight hits and striking out four.
The battle with Hudsonville was highly anticipated, and the Rockets' two second-inning runs in response to the Eagles scoring four seemed to indicate they were up to the task. Madi Reichert had an RBI single in the frame. However, the Eagles stormed back with six more runs in the third and never looked back.
R-P managed five hits, all singles, in the defeat.
