Seniors left their mark on the diamond

The loss in the state quarterfinals is still a huge disappointment for the South Milwaukee girls softball team, but many positives can come out of it, Rockets coach Heather Hanson said.

"This is still such a great feeling," she said moments after the Rockets 7-5 WIAA state quarterfinal loss to Watertown on June 17, "but we need to use this and build forward. Use this experience at Goodman and try to propel ourselves back here next year."

Hanson has reason to be optimistic in that regard, as the Rockets started only three seniors at state. The problem is that two of them, catcher Robyn Primrose and pitcher Aly Pinkos, are her starting battery. The other is third baseman Rebecca Desotell.

Pinkos finished the year with a 10-6 record, including 84 strikeouts and 29 walks. She had a 3.69 ERA. Meanwhile, Primrose was the leading day-to-day hitter for the 17-8 team, notching a .459 average with team highs in RBIs (25), hits (28) and triples (seven).

Desotell notched a .370 average in her final year with 19 runs scored and 20 hits.

Hanson said Pinkos, who has a trademark of repeatedly snapping the ball back and forth into her glove before each pitch, will be missed on many levels.

"She has this amazing ability to keep it fun," Hanson said. "No matter what, she walks off the mound with a smile on her face. She wants the team to have fun, too."

Primrose also called all the pitches for Pinkos, a rare sign of confidence in this day and age, when many coaches relay pitches to the catcher from the dug-out.

Junior Sydney Stueck, who posted a 2-2 mark this spring with a 3.39 ERA, is Pinkos' likely successor. Junior first baseman Deanna Gilane is the leading returning hitter with a .397 mark (23 hits, seven doubles, four triples and 15 RBIs).

State notes

• If the Rockets had won against Watertown, it would have sent them into a state semifinal later that evening against North Shore champ Homestead (23-3). It would have been a serendipitous meeting, as in 1988, then South Milwaukee coach Bob Frederick led the Rockets to a 15-5 victory in the state championship against the Highlanders, who then as now, are coached by Dave Keel.

• Homestead beat Watertown, 3-1, in that semifinal on June 17, to advance to the state championship tilt against Kaukauna (27-2). It's the first title game for Homestead since that loss to the Rockets 22 years ago.

• South Milwaukee centerfielder Nikki Jordan was hit by a pitch only twice all season, but she sent WIAA staff and reporters consulting recordbooks when she was plunked not once, not twice, but three times in the Watertown game. The WIAA keeps records for pitchers hitting batters, but not necessarily for those who are hit. Jordan came around to score after one of those bruise-inducers.

• Rocket freshman shortstop Riley Budde made a big impression on everyone with her two-hit, two-RBIs effort against the Goslings. The 5-8 two-hole hitter lashed a bomb of an RBI double that reached the left center-field fence in the first that easily scored teammate Kesley Matuszak. Budde finished the year hitting .375.

• And in a belated note of respect for the underdog Rockets after losing the quarterfinal to a late Watertown rally, a Goslings fan could be overheard saying: "There are a lot of church-goers in Watertown."