East Ridge softball: Raptors top Tartan, but season ends against Stillwater

The youthful East Ridge girls softball team took care of Tartan, but couldn’t overcome Stillwater as the Raptors’ 2012 season came to an end in the second round of the playoffs.

East Ridge, the sixth seed in the Section 4AAA tournament, crushed 11th-seeded Tartan 16-1 in the opener, but fell 7-0 to Suburban East Conference foe Stillwater in the second round, ending the Raptors’ year.

After compiling 14 hits and 16 runs in four innings against Tartan, East Ridge’s bats were silenced by third-seeded Stillwater and starting pitcher Rachel Rhode, who threw a complete-game, two-hitter with 10 strikeouts.

The loss finished East Ridge’s season with a 12-10 overall record. The Raptors were also 9-9 in the SEC, good for fourth place.

Prior to falling to the Ponies (14-7) on Wednesday, East Ridge ripped Tartan on Monday, scoring eight runs in the bottom of the first inning, four runs in the second, three runs in the third and a run in the fourth inning.

East Ridge senior standout catcher Taylor LeMay led the way for the Raptors at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a solo home run – her sixth of the year – two runs scored, three RBI and a steal. In addition, freshman Amanda Robinson was 2-for-2 with two runs and two RBI and eighth grader Megan Tarara was 2-for-3 with a double, a run and two RBI.

The win gave current East Ridge head coach Tom Nemo a victory over his former squad. Nemo was the head coach at Tartan High School from 1999-2006 where his teams compiled a 107-54 record.

East Ridge must now say good-bye to three seniors – LeMay, Kelsey Jarrett and Erin Kiefat. However, the team will return a bulk of this year’s roster next spring.

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