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Easton/Hooters/Rockets wins in Owatonna and Bloomington

The women’s Easton/Hooters/Rockets softball team completed their July tournament schedule with back-to-back wins at the Owatonna Classic and the 50th Annual Bloomington Firemen’s Tournament.

The team headed down to Owatonna’s long-running ASA tournament the weekend of July 12-13. Right out of the gate, the Rocket’s were challenged by Sliders, a team comprised of former Spooks players. After being down 7-0, the Rockets fought their way back to seal a 12-9 win. The team finished out Saturday play with a 22–2 win against St. Charles Merchants and a 9-7 win against the Ice.

The most exciting game of the weekend came Sunday morning against Mad Jacks. The team got off to a cold start and at one point was down 9-0. With timely hitting and great defense, the team fought their way back to tie the score up in the bottom of the seventh inning. The score would remain tied for 12 innings.

After not capitalizing on a couple of scoring opportunities and hanging tough of defense, the Rockets finally scored the winning run on a two-out, two-run base hit by Rachael Young. The team then advanced into the undefeated game, posting a 5-3 win against the Thunderboltz.

Fighting from behind all weekend, the Rockets would start the championship game against the Ice down 3-0. Deb Tix hit a deep fly ball into left field to give the Rockets the lead and they never looked back. Final score Rockets 10, Ice 8.

The Rockets couldn’t bask in their Owatonna victory for long as the very next weekend brought the 50th Annual Bloomington Firemen’s Tournament. The team started off Saturday play losing their first game to the Thunderboltz 10-5. Now in the losers bracket, the Rockets would have to fight their way back to the championship and that’s exactly what they would do. The team would face some familiar opponents, playing their second game against Mad Jacks and again posting a 10-9 come from behind win.

Moving through the losers bracket, the Rockets next played the Ice. Capitalizing on some timely hitting and clutch defensive catches by Kristina Koznick, the Rockets lived to see Sunday, beating the Ice 8-5.

Sunday morning brought a match-up against the hot-hitting Outsiders. The Rockets won 10-3 and solidified their spot in the championship game against the undefeated Thunderboltz.

The team would have to beat the Thunderboltz twice in order to win the Fireman’s. The Rockets blew out of the gate the first game of the championship game, posting an 8-0 lead. The Boltz fought back with home run after home run to close the score down to 11-9, but the Rockets were able to hold the Boltz off and closed them out 13-10 to force the “if” game.

In the final game, the Rockets again posted an early lead with two first inning two-out, three-run home runs by Brenna Knights and Tam Anderson. The Boltz tried to battle back but the Rockets were able to keep them at bay and ended up winning the championship, posting a 12-6 victory! This was the first Fireman’s Tournament win for the Rockets Women’s team. Deb Tix was awarded the tournament MVP with her stellar pitching and equally stellar hitting, leading the team with a .700 batting average.

Next up for the Rockets is Open State on Aug. 3, in Brooklyn Park, then Nationals Labor Day Weekend at BeBops and the season culminates with the USSSA “B” World Tournament in Orlando, Fla., at the Disney Complex Sept. 19-21.

As always we would like to thank our sponsors as without them none of this is possible. Thanks to Hooters Mall of America, Easton and of course, Robbie Rocket for your continued support as we truly appreciate all that you do!