RBI Atlanta scored in every inning they hit in, and they only needed four to defeat Big Island RBI 12-3 to advance to the semifinals of the RBI Softball World Series in Minneapolis / St. Paul, Minnesota. The game ended after the top half of the fifth inning because of the mercy rule.
Starter Jordyn Waracka allowed the first two runs of the game to score without recording an out. After a double by Elanna Worthy, Chelsea Hall clobbered a two-run home run over the left field wall to put Atlanta up 2-0.
In the second, the girls from Georgia continued their offensive assault against the West Region champions, with all runs scoring with two out. Worthy drove in Amaris Gilchrease with a single to right field. Hall came up next and drove a double out to right field, scoring Worthy from first base on the play. Markea Sheppard followed with what looked to be the third out of the inning on a ground ball to first baseman Skyler Agrigado-Togafau, but she didn’t field it cleanly, allowing Sheppard to reach base and Hall to score, giving Atlanta a 5-0 lead after two innings.
Agrigado-Togafau would benefit from an error on the top half of the third inning when she hit a ground ball to Hall at shortstop, allowing Camello to score on what would have been the third out of the inning to cut the deficit to four at 5-1.
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RBI Atlanta put the game well out of reach in the bottom half of that same inning, lighting up the scoreboard for six more runs. The first three batters reached base, all on singles. Alexis Smoot, who was the courtesy runner for Veronica Burse, would score on a bases-loaded walk to Gilchrease. The next batter, Mariah Campbell, hit the biggest shot of the night, clubbing a grand slam home run over the left field wall to make the score 10-1. Another run would score later in the inning when Hall scored on an error from catcher Gayla Ha-Cabebe to push the lead to 10 runs at 11-1.
After an RBI single by Smoot in the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 12-1, Big Island RBI was down to their final three outs to avoid falling via the mercy rule. They managed to load the bases with two out in the inning, needing to score four runs to continue the game. They would pick up two of those runs on a single by Ciana Matsuoka to cut the deficit to nine, but a strikeout by Camille Kiyota ended the game and tournament for Big Island RBI.
Atlanta eventually lost to Harrisburgh RBI by the score of 3-2 in the semifinals to end their tournament run. Big Island RBI ended the tournament with a record of 2-5 while RBI Atlanta ended their run with a 5-3 record.
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Jordyn Waracka pitched all four innings for Big Island RBI, and nine of the twelve runs that she gave were earned. She walked two and struck out one in the 99 pitches that she threw.
Ciana Matsuoka collected both RBI’s in the game and was the only one to pair hits in the game. Chelsea Camello, Shaniya Kamakea-Wong, and Skylar Thomas each added a hit.
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