Rossville softball repeats as sectional champions

ROSSVILLE − Chris Gorbett calls them quiet leaders.

Rossville's six softball seniors aren't overly vocal or outspoken, unlike the senior group the Hornets coach had last season.

But the Hornets are again making noise nonetheless.

On Wednesday, Rossville defeated Tri-County 8-2 in the sectional championship, repeating a feat that until last year had never happened in program history.

"Last year we had three seniors that were really motivated and really helped us a lot," Gorbett said. "That carries down. That carries on from your seniors to your freshmen. We were able to bring in four freshmen this year, pretty solid freshmen, to fill those holes."

Last season, Rossville was one win away from advancing to the Class A state championship, a motivating factor for those returning.

The Hornets still relay on the things that were successful in last year's tournament run: solid hitting, great defense and pitcher Avery Layton.

Layton did her part, providing two doubles, driving in three runs and striking out 14 one night after the sophomore went over 500 strikeouts for her career in a semifinal win over Frontier.

"I know I can do my job because I have a good defense," Layton said. "Even if they're hitting off of me, the defense has my back. My hitters have my back too and we'll keep scoring."

That was certainly the case in Wednesday's championship.

Even when Bella Dominguez led off the first with a base hit and scored to put Tri-County ahead 1-0 early, Rossville's offense quickly erased the deficit with Rylee Longenecker's RBI single in the second.

Kylie Bogan added a two-run single in the third, Layton's fifth-inning double off the wall drove in Addi Gorbett and two innings later, Layton would drive in Addi and Avery Gorbett with another double before Megan McDonald delivered the knockout blow.

McDonald, Rossville's junior third baseman, cranked a two-run homer to center field.

"We were a little bit antsy going into the last game," McDonald said. "(Tri-County) said they were coming for us, but we did a good job staying calm and playing as a team and just hitting and knowing what we can do."

Last year's success helped in that regard.

So did losing to Clinton Central in the conference tournament leading into the sectional. The Hornets came in motivated to avenge that loss and beat the Bulldogs in a first-round thriller.

"It is expected of us now, but that isn't hurting us at all," McDonald said. "We know we can do that now."

What Rossville could potentially do is win the whole thing, continuing with the upcoming regional.

"We came in last year and we knew we were capable of quite a bit, but we just were just hoping to win a sectional," Layton said. "This year, we're hoping to go to state. We know what we're capable of and we're on the right track."

Sam King covers sports for the Journal & Courier. Email him at sking@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter and Instagram @samueltking.