Riverdale loses title to North Fort Myers in tight game
With each batter trotting back to the dugout, the Riverdale Raiders were becoming increasingly frustrated during Thursday’s LCAC Championship softball game at Bobbie Dewey Field.
Junior ace Jackie Owen played a big part for the host North Fort Myers Red Knights as she changed speeds on her pitches and pounded strikes on the corners. When the Raiders made contact, they never found an opening in the Red Knights’ rock-solid defense.
Owen completed a perfect game by getting Staci Jones to ground out to shortstop Kayla Ramey to set off a celebration of a 1-0 masterpiece.
“We haven’t lost a game on our field this year,” said Owen. “That was a big deal to us. We weren’t going to let them take anything.”
The Knights (21-3), who had already made school history by reaching the 20-win plateau, seemed to have their typical focus from the start of Thursday’s game.
They figured it would take a near flawless performance, particularly pitching and defense, to knock off the Raiders (21-3), who had not lost to a Southwest Florida opponent this year.
The blueprint for success Thursday started with assistant coach J.D. Miner sending the pitches in to freshman catcher Katrissa Rowell. Owen and Rowell then had to execute and make the necessary adjustments.
They did. The few times Owen was forced deep into counts, she dialed up the right pitch to finish off the hitter. She tallied 12 strikeouts.
“Some of them we weren’t getting,” said Rowell, “but then we adjusted and they couldn’t hit it.”
Equally impressive was the play of the Red Knights defense behind Owen. The infield consisted of Mariah Fernandez (first base), Alyssa Dougherty (second base), Ramey (shortstop) and Lexi Schlotter (third base). Allie Kennedy, Micheala Schlotter and Jasmine Santiago all made important catches in the outfield.
“Our defense has been great all year,” coach Jeff Miner said. “We made every play tonight.”
Even with those factors, the Knights still needed to score at least one. It wasn’t easy against Riverdale junior Liana Derringer.
They created the only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth.
Owen led off with a bloop single to left. Sophomore Alex Smith, who came in as pinch runner, advanced to second on a groundout by Rowell and then went to third when Micheala Schlotter hit a grounder to short that was mishandled.
With two outs, the Knights executed a double steal. Schlotter took off for second base. When Riverdale threw to second, Smith broke from third to the plate.
The Raiders threw home for a close play, but Smith slid in just before the tag.
It caused some brief confusion as both sides believed they got the call. The Riverdale players began to run on the field with their gloves as if the inning was over.
“First of all, it shouldn’t have been close because we got a bad break off third,” Miner said. “The tag was on the back. You have to get the tag on the feet. If you tag on the back, nine out of 10 times you’re going to be safe.”
After winning the LCAC title, North shifts attention to the District 5A-15 Tournament. The Knights are the top seed and host either Lehigh or East Lee County Tuesday.
Riverdale 000 000 0 – 0 0 2
North FM 000 100 x – 1 4 0
W – Jackie Owen (17-3). L – Derringer.