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Region softball: River Ridge 5, Robinson 4

 
TAMPA -- River Ridge sophomore Teah Steel (left) rejoices with senior Paige Theede moments after Steel scored during the Royal Knights 5-4 victory in Wednesday night's Class 6A regional quarterfinal. Taken 4-20-16 by Scott Purks
TAMPA -- River Ridge sophomore Teah Steel (left) rejoices with senior Paige Theede moments after Steel scored during the Royal Knights 5-4 victory in Wednesday night's Class 6A regional quarterfinal. Taken 4-20-16 by Scott Purks
Published April 21, 2016

TAMPA — It was River Ridge's small ball vs. Robinson's long ball in Wednesday night's Class 6A region softball quarterfinal.

This time, small ball won … barely. Final score: River Ridge 5, Robinson 4.

The Royal Knights' small ball heroics steadily added up in the top of the sixth inning when they scored four runs on a walk, an error and four singles, three of which were bunts on squeeze plays.

"I have every girl bunt a whole bucket of balls every day," River Ridge coach Kurt Goluba said. "I'm a firm believer that if you can execute the squeeze play, it will definitely come in handy at some point. It sure did tonight."

On the other side, Robinson shortstop Alexis Smith almost single handedly kept her team in the game with long shots. Leading off the game, Smith rocked a changeup over the left-centerfield fence for a homer and a 1-0 lead. Then in the seventh inning with one out, Smith hit a towering three-run homer to cut the gap to 5-4.

"But I still felt okay because I had all the confidence in (River Ridge freshman pitcher Melanie Rogers)," Goluba said. "I know she stays calm no matter what."

She did.

Rogers got the next two hitters to strike out and ground out respectively. Her final line on the game was seven innings, six hits, four runs, two walks and eight strikeouts, but, of course, two of those hits were home runs.

"I knew (Smith) was dangerous and had a quick bat, but I felt we had to pitch to her," said Goluba, whose team improved to 17-9. "It did make it interesting."

For Robinson (16-10), it was a bittersweet ending.

"We played well," coach Ed Gallio said. "I knew these girls would never give up no matter what. They definitely never gave up tonight."