Eagles News
05.24.2010 - [Softball]
Photo By: Jay Hobbs
DECATUR, AL --- With its season effectively over and one game left to play, the NAIA's No. 8-ranked Concordia picked up an outstanding effort from senior right-hander Rachel Reekstin and a key three-run double from a freshman in a 4-1 win over No. 9 Oklahoma City Monday afternoon.
The win caps off the Eagles' 2010 campaign at 42-20--one win better than last year's total--as Concordia ends its year in Pool Play at the NAIA Softball National Championships for the second consecutive season.
Reekstin came out with nothing to lose and nothing to gain, and delivered seven innings to pick up her 48th career victory, the second-highest total in school history. She threw 114 pitches and allowed just one earned run on six hits and three walks to close out her final season at 12-10.
"I just wanted to go down with a fight and make all these years of playing worthwhile," Reekstin said. "I wanted to go out smiling and I wanted my team to go out feeling the same way, that I love them and that we can do it."
"All year, we've beaten the best, and this win shows that when we play consistently, we can be the best," Reekstin said.
The Concordia defense that looked so shaky in the first two games of the tournament, committing three errors in the opener, picked Reekstin up in several key situations, starting with a diving play by All-GSAC junior third baseman Samantha Perez that stranded the bases loaded in the first inning.
"What I would like people to know is that the way we played the first two games of this tournament is not acceptable for Concordia Softball," head coach Crystal Rosenthal said. "We played poorly both games, and we had a heart-to-heart after Saturday's loss. The team responeded really well and played like they have all year. We didn't do anything fancy today, we just played like we know how."
The Eagles scored their first run in the second inning when sophomore right fielder Brieana Eckel fell behind 0-2 before willing an RBI groundout to the right side.
Freshman left fielder Alexis Vernon--who had not appeared in either of the first two games--delivered a bases-loaded double into the left-field corner with two outs in the third inning that chased Oklahoma City starter Jenni Gaby and staked Reekstin to a 4-0 lead.
Reekstin allowed a run in the fifth inning, and the leadoff hitter reached on a single, but Reekstin was helped out by the combination of a 4-6-3 double play followed by a diving stab by All-GSAC sophomore shortstop Alyssa Erickson that ended the threat and kept the momentum in the Eagles dugout.
"I couldn't ask for a better way to go out," Reekstin said. "My defense was the defense I will always remember. They played perfectly, and they helped me to relax in tight situations. I definitely could not have asked for more."
Reekstin went out in the seventh and delivered a 1-2-3 frame that ended on a backward K, marking just her second strikeout of the game.
"What a great way for Rachel to go out, on a strikeout looking," Rosenthal said. "That curveball down the middle is what we've been going back to all year on a two-strike count with Rachel, so that was a great way to end it."
Senior center fielder Shannon Walton singled and scored in her final game in an Eagles uniform, ending with 176 career hits and 93 career runs in her four-year career.
Fellow seniors Melanie Hansen and Alicia Leto also finish out their respective careers, with Leto completing a four-year stint and Hansen finishing her second year at Concordia.
"In all my years of coaching, I've only cried in front of a team one time, and Rachel made me do it after our last game," Rosenthal said. "Rachel is probably the most consummate competitor you'll ever meet. She's all about win, she's all about go and she's all about guts. She's been a huge reason for the improvement of our program."
"Even when Rachel hasn't pitched well, she never makes an excuse and always wants the ball," Rosenthal said. "She's just Rachel."
Oklahoma City (42-12) moves on to play defending champion California Baptist in bracket play later in the day.
To view photos from the 2010 NAIA Softball National Championships, click here.
