Rock Gold starts pool play strong in USA national repeat quest
PLANO, TX >> If its opener was any indication, the Rock Gold 18-and-under softball team looks ready to give it a good shot in terms of repeating as the USA Gold National champion.
In a tournament once again being held in the northern suburbs of Dallas, Rock Gold opened pool play on Monday afternoon by crushing Texas Premier Gold, 10-0.
Rock Gold will next play pool games on Tuesday against the Tulsa Shootout and American Freedom Gold before swinging into the double-elimination portion of the tournament on Wednesday. Unlike some tourneys, the results of pool play have meaning because the games will count towards a team’s seeding in bracket play.
“We started out a little slow and left some runners on base, but we picked it up as the game went along,’’ said Rock Gold sponsor/coach Rick Waye. “We need to explode at the plate because the tourney is stronger this year.
“This is the only national tournament going on right now and it’s the only one that allows college players. There are even more college kids here this year. We’ll see how we can do.’’
The Rock Gold pitching against Texas Premier Gold was in the capable hands of University of South Florida recruit Payton Dixon and Kylie Kenney, who graduated from Central Bucks South High this past June.
Ty Vaughn led the offense with a home run. In addition, lead-off batter and Virginia Tech recruit Emma Ritter was 3-for-5 and Megan Sheehan was 3-for-3.
Sheehan and Vaughn have also both committed to Ken Errickson’s University of South Florida program. Errickson, of course, is also the coach of the United States National and Olympic teams.
Prior to getting underway at the USA Gold Nats, Rock Gold competed in the JO Cup the previous week in South Carolina. The teams was not at full strength because college players are not allowed, but it still finished a respectable 13th out of 34 teams with a record of 3-2.
It’s what happens this week that really counts for a Rock Gold team that plays most of its home games in Ewing.
“We did not play well in the field at the JO Cup and made some changes,’’ said Waye. “We moved (Conwell-Egan’s) Cori Jones to second and she looks great there. We also moved Morgan Petty to shortstop. I think we are set in the field.’’
Rock Gold suffered a blow to its pitching staff when hard-throwing Ashley Blessen of Tampa was injured at the JO Cup and lost for the remainder of the season. On the plus side, the team does have six pitchers in Texas, including ace fireballer Dani Farley.
A sophomore this year at the University of Florida, Farley was not present Monday, but is set to fly into Texas on Tuesday to join the team.
Farley got the start nine days ago when Rock Gold played an exhibition game against the national 19-and-under team, which is ranked third in the world behind the United States No. 1 team and Japan.
After shutting down the national team for two innings, Farley did give up some runs and was replaced after the third inning. The game turned into a blowout from there.
“I asked for an extra inning and that was a mistake,’’ said Waye with a chuckle. “The national team is relentless.’’
A year ago Rock Gold won the USA Gold National crown with an impressive and somewhat unusual lengthy run out of the losers’ bracket with the temperature hovering in the 110-degree range. As such, Monday’s conditions with clouds and a temperature of “only” 97 almost seemed balmy.