There was no title, but the Rochester Hurricanes got the experience of playing in a national fastpitch softball tournament.
The Hurricanes were eliminated from the 18 and under Class B Northern National Tournament after dropping their second game in the double elimination bracket play on Saturday evening.
The Hurricanes finished the tournament with a record of 3-3 overall.
"It was disappointing to lose and not be going on, but the girls represented themselves and Rochester well this week," Hurricanes coach Mike Breitbach said. "We were competitive in every game and I was proud of the effort from the whole team."
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In the second round of bracket play on Saturday morning the Hurricanes lost 4-1 to Clay Center B’s out of Kansas. Clay Center scored three runs in the top of the first inning, which proved to be enough offensive support. The Hurricanes finished with five hits, but had trouble stringing anything together. They did not have more than one hit in any inning.
In an elimination game, Rochester defeated the Omaha Lightning 5-1. The Hurricanes got one run in the first, two in the third and two in the fifth to build a 5-0 lead. Ashley Jochum scored twice while Katie Krull and Rachel Karp both had two hits.
Sleepy Eye then eliminated the Hurricanes with a 7-6 win. Sleepy Eye advanced to the final eight teams with the win.
Krull was 3-for-4 in the game and Karp was 2-for-2. Rochester came back from a late 3-1 deficit with three runs in the sixth with Krull, Robyn Miller and Allison Radke all scoring on a bases-loaded single. But Sleepy Eye would answer with a two-out, bases-loaded double in the bottom of the seventh to claim the win.
Kristen Erickson pitched all three games for Rochester on Saturday. The Hurricanes, made up of 16 and under players from John Marshall, finished the summer with a 36-7 record.
• The Rochester Diamonds 10U Class B team finished with an 0-4 record in the tournament. The Diamonds lost both of their games in pool play and then dropped to straight in the double-elimination round.
The Diamonds manged to score just four runs in the four games.
