South Rockwood extends dynasty in Monroe County Fair Softball tournament

MONROE – It’s time to change the sign.

There is a marker behind the South Rockwood village hall, commemorating the community’s championships in the Monroe County Fair Tournament which lists all of the players on the winning rosters.

Members of this year’s 12-under softball team soon will see their names on that sign.

It’s a big deal for the girls, but it is nothing new for many of them.

South Rockwood came from behind to beat Ida 13-3 in the final Friday to capture its fourth straight championship.

“This is huge,” said Jim Martin, who stood in for head coach Steve Drummond during the final two days of the 50th annual tournament.

Adding to the dynasty wasn’t easy.

South Rockwood suffered its first loss in the last four years of the tournament earlier Friday, as Ida posted an 8-3 win to force a second game in the finals. Then, Ida jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the championship game.

The resilience of South Rockwood players was being tested.

“I told them that they were only down by three runs,” Martin said. “They were acting like they were down seven.”

The bats finally came alive in the fourth inning.

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“We needed something to get us going,” Martin said. “Once the first person got a hit and then the second, the dugout just exploded.”

A single by Madison Monroe launched the big inning.

She scored on a single by Journeigh LaRowe to get South Rockwood on the board, then Reese Grabetz doubled home a run.

The hits just kept coming.

By the time the inning ended, South Rockwood had scored 11 times.

Monroe and LaRowe each had a pair of hits in the inning. Other hits came from Paige Barnes and Isabelle Jones.

It was a big game for Jones, who went 4-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. Monroe finished with three hits and three RBI.

Ida lost its first game of the tournament, then won four in a row before dropping the final game.

“They fought back,” Ida coach Travis Lusky said. “I couldn’t be more proud. It would have been easy to give up, but they made the community proud.”

Lainey Hoffman delivered an RBI single in the final game while Sadie Lusky and Brinley Krieger also had hits.

Logan Everett was the star of Ida's earlier win Friday. She stroked a two-run single in the first inning, then inherited a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the sixth inning and allowed no runs.

Ida did all of its scoring early.

Kenzie Hall drove in the first run of the game with a single, then Everett's hit made it 3-0.

The other five runs came home in the third inning. Hall and Krieger had hits to key that uprising. Both of them finished with two hits.

Isabelle Jones of South Rockwood had two hits and an RBI. LaRowe and Paige Barnes each added a single and an RBI. Carleigh Mullins threw two perfect innings.

This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: South Rockwood extends dynasty in Monroe County Fair Softball tournament