Unity gets into ‘unstoppable’ groove to best Monticello, reach regional final

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ST. JOSEPH — Ruby Tarr hadn’t had the best game so far. The Unity senior’s first three at-bats in Wednesday afternoon’s Class 2A St. Joseph-Ogden Regional softball semifinal against Monticello resulted in a strikeout, reaching base on an error and a flyout to right field.

So, going into her final plate appearance in the bottom of the sixth inning, with the third-seeded Rockets hanging onto a 7-4 lead against the fifth-seeded Sages, she and her teammates decided to keep it light. They made a joke that Tarr said probably shouldn’t be repeated. Here’s the gist:

“They were like, ‘Just hit us in,’” Tarr, a Western Illinois signee, said with a smirk. “That was my whole goal, to just see the ball and go. I saw my pitch, and I was just happy to get my teammates in.”

With runners on first and second base, Tarr finally got a pitch to her liking, and she smoked it right back up the middle of the diamond at Randy Wolken Field. The ball didn’t get higher off the ground than Tarr herself, but it didn’t land until it reached the center fielder, who chased after it as it sped past her to the fence. Tarr slid into third base for a two-run triple, and Sophia Beckett subsequently drove her in with her third hit of the day to all but end the game and give Unity a 10-4 victory.

Danika Eisenmenger relieved Lindy Bates in the pitching circle for the final inning, and she shut the Sages down to give Unity a date with rival St. Joseph-Ogden at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the regional championship game.

“That’s why you coach the game, and that’s why you play the game,” Unity coach Aimee Davis said after letting out a sigh of relief. “We came out and finally did the job we needed to do offensively and made the plays down the stretch. … Monticello is a scary team to play, so we knew we had to be prepared and give it our best.”

The final score didn’t do this game justice. Along with it being a postseason game, it was also a game between two Illini Prairie Conference rivals, which amped up the players even more.

Monticello senior Marrissa Miller walked for the game’s first baserunner, and she showed some intense emotion as she slid into second base safely as Cassidee Stoffel singled right behind her. Isa Beery then brought Miller home for the game’s first run, and Miller let out a passionate “Let’s go!” as she crossed home plate.

“We were so ready,” Miller said of the start of the game. “Unity’s always been our big rival, so coming through and being the first to score was ecstatic. It felt like if there was any game we were going to win, this would be it.”

Stoffel scored a couple batters later to give the Sages (19-13) a 2-0 lead right out of the gate, but the Rockets (23-8-1) weren’t going to back down.

Unity’s bats got hot in the second inning. Eight different Rockets came to the plate, and five of them recorded a hit, highlighted by an RBI double from Maegan Rothe, an RBI single from Shelby Smith and a two-run double from Jenna Adkins. Just like that, Unity led 4-2.

“When we’ve won games this year, which is plentiful, we’ve hit the ball,” Davis said. “That’s the personality of our team. If we don’t hit, we don’t win very many games. We definitely showed what we were made of in those innings we did score. … We had some really big hits by people we know can do it, and we believe in them. That’s why they’re in the lineup.”

The Sages weren’t done yet, either. They tied the game at 4 in the fourth inning on RBI knocks from Sadie Walsh and Stoffel. Walsh, Stoffel and Avery Schweitzer wound up leading the team’s offensive push with two hits apiece.

Monticello entered Wednesday’s game on a five-game win streak. Before that, their record had bounced back and forth around the .500 mark all season.

“It was a little rough in the beginning, but as the season went on, we just got stronger and stronger, and we all got closer and closer,” Miller said. “It wasn’t even necessarily to win games, it was just to spend time with each other. We loved it so much.”

After Monticello tied it, Unity scored six unanswered runs spread through the next three innings. Beckett paced the Rocket offense with three hits. Smith tallied two hits and three RBI, and Bates and Rothe each added two hits of their own. Tarr and Adkins both came through with clutch two-out, two-run extra-base hits. Bates worked through eight Monticello hits and didn’t give up any earned runs in her six innings of work in the circle.

The crazy part about this game for the Rockets is that it was “definitely not our best game.” At least, that’s what Tarr said. If 10 runs on 14 hits isn’t up to par, then they should have all the reason to believe they can win their fifth regional title in a row.

“We have so much more in the tank, and I think we’re ready to prove something,” Tarr said, hinting at Saturday’s championship game against the Spartans. “We’re ready for them, and we’re coming for blood.”