FORT PIERCE – John Carroll Catholic High softball fans around the field began doing the math.
With two runners on base, big hitter Samantha “Sammi” Rychter at the plate and the Rams holding a seven-run lead in the bottom of the sixth inning, a home run would end it.
Rychter was thinking about it too.
“A little bit, yeah,” she said.
With one mighty swing, Rychter sent the ball over the right-center field fence giving John Carroll a 14-4 victory over Cardinal Newman in the Class 2A-Region 4 semifinal stopped in the sixth inning because of the 10-run rule Wednesday at Pam Drawdy Field.
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The game was the conclusion of Tuesday’s game suspended in the top of the second inning with the Rams leading 2-0.
“A couple people yesterday were like, I feel one today,” Rychter said. “I knew I had to get it done.
“It was awesome.”
Home run was a long time coming
Rychter’s previous home run came on March 3 in a 20-1 victory over Lincoln Park Academy.
“I was in a drought,” she said. “I knew it had to come eventually.”
In her first three at bats of the game, Rychter had three hits, scored a run and stole a base against Cardinal Newman starting pitcher Bella Pembe.
In her fourth at bat, Rychter faced a much slower pitcher in Elle Perrotto and grounded out to second.
“I just knew I had to wait on it and wait on it because it was pretty slow and I’m not really used to that,” Rychter said. “So I just knew I had to wait and adjust.
“I knew I had to get her back.”
After waiting on two balls out of the strike zone, the left-handed Rychter unleashed her textbook swing, sending a drive into deep right-center field toward some John Carroll students, who were watching the game from beyond the fence.
“Oh my gosh it felt so good,” she said. “It felt really good.”
Coaching third base Rams coach Rico Rosado lost sight of the ball.
“I kept telling her, ‘Out in front. Out in front.’ And when she hit it I couldn’t find it,” Rosado said. “Then I saw the right fielder go to the wall.”
Rosado didn’t need to wave any runners around third. They scored at their own pace – a pretty frantic one at that, since they wanted to join the celebration that already had begun in the dugout.
“It wasn’t that I called it,” Rosado said. “We needed it.”
Hitting was contagious for the Rams
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the second when the game resumed, Cardinal Newman quickly tied the game with two runs without the benefit of a hit.
The Crusaders used three straight bunts following a walk to get even.
The Rams knew they had to keep hitting to keep pace.
“I saw at the beginning of the game we need to step on the gas and not take our foot off until the game is over,” Rychter said. “We were on it.”
In the end, eight John Carroll starters collected hits, six knocked in runs and everyone in the lineup scored at least once.
In addition to Rychter going 4-for-5 with five runs batted in and two runs scored, Malory Vaudrin Isabella Sanchez, Cristina LeSchander, Victoria O’Brien and No. 9 hitter Sofia Curd all collected two hits in the 16-hit attack.
“My No. 9 hitter was 2-for-3,” Rosado said of Curd. “Before the game I told her to think right field. She’s always way out in front. When she hit the ball in the gap I was shocked but I kinda expected her to do it.”
Rosado said the team practices for 2 to 2-and-a-half hours and spends 1:45 to 2 hours on hitting.
“The hitting is starting to come around the last three or four games,” the veteran coach said.
That was not always the case
A 4-5 start to the season led to some doubts among the John Carroll players.
“I don’t know. In the beginning we just were losing a lot of games and mentally we weren’t into it because we thought we weren’t going to have the best season,” Rychter said. “We just said mentally and physically we have to turn it around. So at practices we would have a little bit more fun. We would be more loose. And we would come out here and just work.”
“They’re playing good and having fun,” Rosado said. “The hitting is starting to come around the last three or four games.”
A 16-hit attack against two vastly different pitchers in the second round of the regionals is a good indication.
“You saw the first four innings the way the first girl was throwing, we were on top of that pitch,” Rosado said. “That’s what fast pitch is about.”
Throw in a game-ending, three-run home run and the Rams feel good about heading into the regional final.
“In the beginning of the season it was kinda rough,” Rychter said. “But we definitely picked it up at the end of the season. And we’re still on it.
“It was a walk-off to get the team going. I love this team, the coaches, everything. We’re destined for great things.”
Quick turnaround for the regional final
Thursday, John Carroll Catholic will head to Palm Beach to face either second-seeded Oxbridge Academy or third-seeded King’s Academy for the 2A-Region 4 crown and a trip to the Final 4.
The Rams (14-8) lost to King’s Academy, 4-1, in the district title and are 3-6 against King’s Academy since 2008.
The 2017 Class 3A state champion, John Carroll has not played Oxbridge Academy since 2024. It is 2-3 against Oxbridge, having won the past two meetings.
“These girls are ready,” Rosado said.
Ironically, the Rams had not played Cardinal Newman earlier this season, even though the teams were scheduled to play twice.
The first meeting in March was postponed because Cardinal Newman seniors were going on a class trip and it would not be able to field a team. The game was rescheduled for a doubleheader in Fort Pierce, but those games were rained out.
“And we didn’t have any room to reschedule,” said Rosado, whose team has won eight straight games against the Crusaders.
Big shoutout to the grounds crew
After driving rain forced Tuesday’s postponement and flooded Drawdy Field, it took a herculean effort from John Carroll maintenance man Jeff Goettler to get the field in playing condition for the 11 a.m. start.
“Oh Jeff. I can’t say enough,” Rosado said.
The coach arrived at 6:15 a.m. and began pushing standing water off the field before Goettler arrived moments later.
“He came with the backpack blower and really did a job,” Rosado said. “He had dug holes against the backstop to let it drain and it worked.
“It dried up pretty good.”
In between innings, members of the John Carroll coaching staff tended to the field with rakes and other equipment to keep the surface playable.
“Oh my gosh. Bless them,” Rychter said. “They were out here at like 6:30 in the morning. Props to all of them and all our coaches too.”
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Sammi Rychter’s walk-off sends John Carroll softball to regional final
Reporting by Dennis Maffezzoli, Special to Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
