Roff socks Tupelo, 7-0

By BOB FORREST Sports Writer

ROFF — Despite a rise to No. 4 in in the final rankings entering this week’s Class B regional fast-pitch tournament, Roff had been plagued at times this season by an inconsistent offense.

But on the opening day of their regional Thursday, the Lady Tigers brought the lumber — er, aluminum — and freshman pitcher Taylor Canida brought her “A” game once again as they moved to within a single victory of their school’s second fall state tournament berth ever.

After crushing New Lima, 16-3, in the tournament opener, Roff — which lost seven games (six by one run) this fall despite giving up more than three runs just once all season — blanked old nemesis Tupelo, 7-0, in Thursday’s nightcap behind an unusual power display and one of Canida’s most dominant efforts of the fall.

“I thought they really had a big-game mentality tonight,” Roff coach Kathy Gregson said after seeing her club improve to 27-7 with a third straight victory this fall over a 10th-ranked Tupelo squad the Lady Tigers hadn’t beaten at all for more than four years when the season began. “I think the girls are really focused right now, and I think they want it really bad. It’s nice to be in the driver’s seat.”

While the victory guaranteed Roff a spot in today’s title game, the loss pushed Tupelo — a fixture at the fast-pitch state tournament for the past three seasons — to the brink of elimination in arguably the state’s deepest Class B regional. Tupelo will meet a No. 15 Coleman squad the Lady Tigers from Coal County run-ruled for the third straight time this fall, 11-0, in Thursday’s second game at 12:30 p.m. today for the right to meet Roff in a 2 p.m. regional championship contest.

If Tupelo can win its first two games today, Roff and Tupelo will meet in an “if-necessary game” for the right to advance to next week’s state tournament.

Winner’s Bracket

Roff 7, Tupelo 0

Canida (26-7) retired the first 13 batters she faced and finished with a two-hitter, and senior Catie Tolliver doubled her career total by swatting two of Roff’s three home runs in the game off Tupelo junior ace Shanna Davidson.

Tolliver drove Davidson’s fourth pitch of the game over the fence in left to give Canida the only run she needed, and the Roff lead grew to 4-0 later in the inning when sophomore Jordan Grinstead lined a no-doubt three-run shot over the fence in dead center for her second home run of the day and her third of the season. Grinstead’s blast came after Davidson — who entered the game as one of the state’s hottest pitchers — had hit Magan Kile with the next pitch following Tolliver’s homer and had walked Canida on a 3-2 pitch with two outs.

Davidson surrendered only one more hit until the sixth, when Tolliver’s second home run — this one to left-center with two outs — plated the game’s final three runs (all unearned because of the second Tupelo error of the game). Other than the three home runs, Roff managed just two other hits off Davidson — a one-out single by Tori Thomas in the second and a sharp single to left by Grinstead leading off the sixth.

The longball barrage provided more than enough support for Canida, who went to a three-ball count just once (on Amber Roberson, who reached on an infield hit with one out in the seventh), pitched to just one batter over the minimum and threw 56 strikes from 84 pitches. She had at least one strikeout in each inning and finished with 11, and Tupelo (19-10) managed to get just one ball out of the infield (a one-out single to center in the fifth by Tiffany Postoak, who was thrown out by Roff freshman catcher Casey Kelly attempting to steal second base one pitch later) and nobody past first base.

“After we got the lead, Taylor really relaxed and threw well,” Gregson said. “She hit spots, and she threw hard.”

First Round

Roff 16, New Lima 3

Canida didn’t allow a hit, struck out eight and walked two over four innings, and Roff scored in four of five at-bats en route to the five-inning run-rule victory.

Grinstead’s three-run homer just inside the left field foul pole was the big blow in a six-run fifth-inning outburst and was one of eight hits by eight different Roff players, and the ninth hitter in the lineup — second baseman Bianca Ott — walked four times in the game and scored three runs.

Cleanup hitter Tera Otis drove in three with a groundout in Roff’s three-run first inning and a two-run single in the fifth; sophomore J. J. Stewart, who replaced Canida in the batting order and Tori Thomas at third base after Thomas moved to the pitching circle in the bottom of the fifth, singled ahead of Grinstead’s homer in the fifth and finished 1-for-2; Tolliver was 1-for-1 with a sacrifice, two walks and three runs scored; and Thomas finished 1-for-2 with three runs scored in the win.

Tupelo 11, Coleman 0

Davidson allowed just one hit — a two-out single by Bianca Golden in the fifth — and two baserunners and struck out seven over five innings, and Tupelo took advantage of six Coleman errors in another five-inning run-rule.

Landra Nelson drove in three runs with a pair of doubles, batterymates Davidson and Megan Bray had two hits apiece and combined to drive in three runs, Grace Leland had two hits (including a double) and scored twice, and Sam Stein finished 1-for-3 with an RBI and also scored twice in the victory.

Nelson’s double into the left field corner was the only hit in a five-run second-inning rally fueled by three Coleman errors, and her second two-bagger followed a leadoff double by Davidson in the fourth. Leland’s one-out double ignited a two-run rally in the fifth that also included Stein’s RBI infield hit and Bray’s bloop single to right, both with two outs.