Rockets finish wild comeback

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RICHMOND – Richmond-Burton’s Haylea Hoskins singled in Carley Battalini in the bottom of the eighth to cap an amazing comeback against Woodstock North in the IHSA Class 3A R-B Regional play-in game Monday.

The fourth-seeded Rockets were in a huge hole before scoring the last nine runs of the game for a 9-8 victory and advance to today’s 4:30 p.m. regional semifinal against top-seeded Antioch.

North pitcher Nikki Greenhill allowed only one hit through six innings, but the Rockets (12-12) scored three runs, which at the time seemed meaningless until a scary moment. Hoskins nailed a line drive that hit Greenhill in the forehead. Greenhill lay in the pitcher’s circle, clutching her head and was removed from the game.

Two other pitchers and four runs later, R-B had tied the score at 8-8. North seemed emotionally drained after that.

“That’s actually the third time she’s gotten hit in the head,” North coach Kristin Holzbauer said. “It’s not an excuse, but I think it’s easy to lose focus after that.”

Holzbauer began emptying the bench with the big lead and was forced to go with junior varsity call-up Rebecca Einspahr, who did not record an out for the Thunder (5-20). Kendyl Schwebke pitched the final 11⁄3 innings.

“It’s horrible that that happened,” R-B coach Stephanie Rasmusen said. “But it’s part of the game. As much as you want to stop and see how they are, the ball’s still in play. It’s a tough break.”

Besides getting the game-winning hit, Hoskins (6-4) threw four innings of relief for the victory.

“We’re all pretty nervous,” R-B’s Hoskins said. “But if we play our game like the way we played in the end of this game, we’ve got a chance.”

Naturally, R-B’s players figured their season was about to end as they batted in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“We kind of thought that we had lost the game,” catcher Riley Stanton said. “When we started hitting we were like ‘Oh, we can actually do this.’ ”

Holzbauer will have a tough time losing graduated players who have been with her since the program started during their sophomore season.

“It’s been tough. But the kids have become family,” she said. “There are six seniors that I’ve had for three years, and they’re truthfully my little sisters. It’s hard to be done.”