Blue Ridge Softball Loses to Regan Romshek, GCMS

FARMER CITY, Ill. -- This Heart of Illinois Conference matchup pitted two of Class 1A's best pitchers against each other: Blue Ridge's Jordan Wheeler vs. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's Regan Romshek.

Romshek won the battle, striking out eight Lady Knights batters in a complete-game shutout to lead the No. 13-ranked Falcons to a 2-0 victory over No. 7 Blue Ridge.

The Illinois State recruit allowed the Knights to get five hits and walked them only twice. GCMS got its two runs in the fourth and fifth innings.

On each occasion, the run came via two-out RBI with a runner on second base.

Wheeler finished the game throwing three strikeouts after getting 12 in each of her previous two starts. She allowed six Falcon hits and walked a batter three times, one of which resulted in the game's second run, to decrease her pitching record to 8-2.

Meanwhile, the Knights fall to 12-3 and 2-1 in the HOIC. They will play Tuesday at Deer Creek-Mackinaw.

Jade O'Neal and Melinda Wilson each recorded two of Blue Ridge's five hits, going 2-for-3 and 2-for-2 at the plate, respectively. Fones got the other hit for the Knights.

O'Neal's second hit occurred in the fourth inning. Chandler Morrow, who ran for O'Neal, ended up at third base and Wilson reached second base via sacrifice bunt by Hannah Mattingly.

But with two outs, Romshek struck out Jamison Brandt to end the inning.

In the fifth inning, the Knights once again had two runners in scoring position, as Elizabeth Cordes got on base with a walk and Fones got her only hit with an infield single. Fones and Cordes ended up on second and third base, respectively, when Marcie Crawford grounded out for the second out of the inning.

That gave Wheeler a chance to tie the game with a base hit. Instead, she swung and missed on a 2-2 pitch by Romshek to squander another scoring opportunity.

Wilson reached second base with two outs in the sixth inning. But Brandt grounded out, and Romshek retired the next three Blue Ridge batters to end the ballgame.