'We're all just so in sync': Aurora softball refuses to let Tallmadge off the hook

AURORA — "You're letting her off the hook."

In the middle of the fourth inning of Monday's Suburban American softball showdown, Aurora coach Sam Petrash implored his team to get going again.

After Sophie Retton's 3-run homer in the first, the host Greenmen had cooled considerably. Tallmadge ace Riley Jackson had retired eight straight, including four first-pitch outs.

It was time for Aurora to make another push, per Petrash. The Greenmen heeded his advice, exploding for 10 runs in the fourth for a 13-0 victory and a season sweep of the 2023 state champion Blue Devils.

"That's when we had to get them back on task and say, 'Look, you're letting her off the hook, you're letting her work the way she wants to work,'" Petrash said. "'Let's reset and let's go back to our approach,' and to their credit, they adjusted."

The adjustment was simple, per Petrash.

Stop chasing high pitches.

Of the eight straight batters Jackson set down, seven flew out.

Petrash needed his players to be more selective.

Retton, once again, led the way.

The first batter after Petrash's between-innings talk, Retton watched a couple of pitches sail high, took a 3-0 strike on the knees, then fouled off a couple of pitches before watching a full-count offering sail low.

Lailah Bohanan was similarly patient, watching three straight balls sail low before smoking a 3-0 pitch down the third-base line. Madeline Dalessandro also smartly watched an 0-2 pitch sail high before lining the next pitch up the middle for an RBI single.

Even after Jackson notched a bases-loaded strikeout for the first out, the Greenmen were undeterred. Lila Bultrowicz — in for Sophie Schecterman (who missed the game due to family reasons) — scorched an 0-1 pitch to the left-field gap to drive in two runs for a 6-0 lead.

"I feel like as a team we're all just so in sync," Bultrowicz said. "We just pick each other up all the time."

So started a string of seven straight hits for Aurora (13-0, 7-0 Suburban American), highlighted by a 3-run homer from Metzger.

"I turned around to Coach Rob [Kennedy] and I was like, 'How did that go over,' in mid-run," Metzger said. "I don't know."

Deep lineup proves potent for Aurora

In the first inning, Jackson coaxed Metzger into a mile-high pop, which landed in between the shortstop and the left fielder. The Blue Devils wished they had caught it, but yielding only a single to Metzger is kind of a win, right? Sure, except that Retton followed with a 3-run homer.

"I knew something was coming right there," Retton said. "I again just was confident with my big swing and just swung as hard as I could."

Jackson ended the third by getting Metzger to fly out, but again Retton refused to let her off the hook, leading off the fourth with a walk.

"It gives me confidence going up to bat because I know no matter what I do, she's going to be back there, and a lot of the times, we kind of bounce off of each other," Metzger said of Retton. "So if one of us gets a good hit, I feel like it brings energy to the other, and it's just kind of a trust thing, not only with her, but the people behind her, too."

Among those behind Retton, Bohanan and Dalessandro had multiple hits in the fourth inning alone.

Those in front of Metzger have been awfully dangerous, too, as Petrash pointed out. Indeed, in that fateful fourth inning in which the Greenmen sent 16 hitters to the plate, shortstop Rayna Unverferth ripped a low pitch up the middle and Sophie Petrash reached on a flare to set up Metzger's 3-run shot. As Sam Petrash pointed out, it's hard for opposing teams to give Metzger the true Barry Bonds treatment — doling out one walk after another — when the rest of the lineup is ripping liners as well.

The hitter in front of Metzger Monday, Sophie Petrash, reached twice in three plate appearances. The hitter after Metzger, Retton, doubled, homered and walked.

"Now, you have all that activity and you come to McKennah Metzger," Sam Petrash said. "The table is set for her and she capitalizes."

Every hitter in Aurora's lineup reached at least once Monday.

"They have to look at, 'Where are the holes?'" Petrash said. "You pitch to your holes sometimes and you just don't see one in this lineup."

Metzger got plenty of support from her teammates in the field as well as she tossed a two-hit shutout. The senior struck out five hitters, a low number by her standards, but the defense behind her was flawless, including a couple of nice putouts apiece by Bultrowicz and Unverferth.

"Me and [Rayna] are so in sync already with the balls in between short and third," Bultrowicz said. "It's just really nice to have a good shortstop right there."

The Greenmen are not only in sync. They're in the driver's seat at the midway point of their conference schedule.

"We're a little bit more focused this year than we have been in the past and I think that's really giving us this motivation," Metzger said. "No matter who we're playing, we act like it's the best team we've played this season because that way we perform better on the field and it brings us all together."

This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Aurora softball earns season sweep of Tallmadge behind 10-run fourth