Reeths-Puffer took advantage of the chance to compete against
some of the state's best teams over the weekend, going 2-3 at the Canton
Challenge tournament.
The Rockets lost to Division 2
honorable mention Linden 5-3 Friday. They split two games Saturday,
losing 7-4 to Division 1 honorable mention Lakeland and then edging
Clinton 10-9. R-P ended the tournament Sunday with an 11-4 win over
Division 1 honorable mention Midland Dow and a 5-0 loss to No. 6-ranked
Walled Lake Northern.
R-P led Linden 3-0 in the third inning
before a late rally by the Eagles, who hit a two-run single in the fifth
for the winning runs. Kyleigh Bilek opened the scoring with a two-run
double in the first and drove in all three Rocket runs. Lainey McDaniel
struck out 11 and allowed two earned runs on three hits.
The
Rockets (18-10) also had an early lead against Lakeland before the
Eagles scored four times in the third inning. Abbie Critchett and Tessa
Ross each got two hits, and Mady Snyder allowed one earned run in four
innings.
R-P staged its own comeback against Clinton, tying
the game with four runs in the fifth inning and scoring the winning run
on a Brook Buchan RBI single in the sixth. Aubrey Clark's two-run single
highlighted the fifth-inning comeback. Bilek got three hits and Clark
had two. Snyder got the win, allowing three earned runs and striking out
four.
The Rockets scored in all four innings they batted
against Dow. Ava Gibbs got a two-run double, and Snyder had two hits and
scored twice. McDaniel got the win, striking out eight and allowing six
hits.
Walled Lake Northern stifled the R-P offense in the
final game of the weekend, holding the Rockets to three hits. McDaniel
and Snyder combined for 10 strikeouts in the circle.
