From staff reports
sports@joplinglobe.com
SALINA, Kan. — The combination of strong pitching, solid defense and timely hitting proved a winner for Riverton’s young Rams.
Riverton won the Class 4A state softball championship on Saturday at the Bill Burke Complex.
The Rams beat Rose Hill 4-0 in the semifinal round, then stopped Ottawa 3-0 for the championship. The Rams do not have a senior on the roster.
“The old saying is that it’s better to be lucky than good,” said Brian Mitchell, Riverton coach. “But this weekend, we put ourselves in position to be lucky.
“It’s not so much luck that you have only one error in three games, or that you give up zero runs the whole state tournament.
“That kind of effort is a real credit to the entire team.”
Junior Haileigh Sills threw a two-hitter against Rose Hill and scattered three hits in the championship game against Ottawa.
Sophomore Cheslyn Mitchell ignited the offense in both games. She had a leadoff single in the first inning against Rose Hill, stole second base and came around to score on groundouts by Carleigh Hall and Sills.
Riverton held that 1-0 lead until the fifth, when Ambur Simmons reached on an error, moved up on a passed ball and scored on a hit by Kotye Mallatt.
Stormi Bond reached on another error in the seventh and Hall singled, then stole second. Bond scored on a passed ball and Hall came around on a throwing error.
In the championship game, the Rams scored all their runs in the first inning.
Mitchell again started things with a single, then stole second. Hall beat out a bunt for an infield single, then Sills ripped a double which short-hopped the fence in right-center field. Courtesy runner Kiley Woods scored on a pair of passed balls.
Riverton, which finished 23-3, managed just one more hit. But Sills was equal to the challenge. Ottawa got just one runner as far as third base.
“We went up there to win it,” Mitchell said. “We felt like we had a legitimate chance to win.”
