Oak Harbor wins tournament championship behind Riley

Oak Harbor's Ashley Riley stayed hot Saturday.

Riley, the only girl on either team who didn't wear long sleeves in the afternoon despite the cold conditions, hit a home run in one game and struck out 11 batters in another as Oak Harbor won the Rocket Invitational.

"I can't do UnderArmour," Riley said. "I stay warmer without. The team kept cheering me on. I was involved in every play and I kept moving and stayed warm."

Riley faced the minimum number of batters in five innings in the 8-3 victory over St. Ursula. She allowed four hits and three runs in the fifth, but she notched a strikeout with the bases loaded in the fourth.

"You have to be mentally tough and you can't break down," she said. "You do what you do best. You can't worry about making a mistake."

Riley hit the home run in a 13-3 victory over Toledo Bowsher in six innings. She had two hits and five RBIs in the game.

"We were a little slow in the beginning," Riley said. "We were enthusiastic. I hit one over the fence – my first one. Everybody fed off that and we pumped up our game."

Emma Bergman struck out seven and walked one while allowing one earned run and four hits in six to earn the win in the first game.

"We motivate each other," Riley said. "She helps me so much. We work together."

Bergman typically starts games.

"It's a tremendous advantage," Rockets coach Chris Rawski said. "Emma is an innings eater. Ashley's been more of a closer, but she can start and finish as you saw. She was able to work through some adversity and emerge with confidence.

"There's no question about the talent, everybody can see it."

Maddy Rathbun, Emma Vidal, Tessa Tyburski and Chrislyn Stevenson each scored as Oak Harbor (9-6) immediately responded in the fifth. Vidal, Riley, Stevenson and Taylor Weborg had RBI.

"We're trying to come out of those situations with confidence," Rawski said. "They showed that (Saturday) with the bats really picking each other up."

Vidal drove in Bergman in the first and added two RBI in the first game. Stevenson, Weborg and Brandy Lochotzki each scored in the fourth as Weborg, Lochotzki (triple) and Seree Petersen each drove in a run.

"She's been clutch all year hitting (cleanup) and piling up some RBIs," Rawski said of Vidal. "She's very disciplined."

Riley walked only one batter Saturday.

Rathbun and Vidal each scored three runs in the first game while Bergman added two.

The Rocket Invitational will be called the Croll Family Rocket Invitational from now on.

EJ Croll, whose daughter Emily is a former Rocket who played softball in college, has been instrumental in the transformation of Oak Harbor's softball facility and helped with the Rockets trip to Florida. He said he'd love to see the facilities help girls develop into college-level players.

"When I started donating money I told Coach we haven't had a state team champion," Croll said. "I'd like to see Oak Harbor reach that goal so anything I can do to help … (Rawski) is energetic and has his heart and soul in the program.

"I'd like to see him succeed."

mhorn@gannett.com

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Twitter:@MatthewHornNH