Staff report

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – Campbell Schaen pitched a no-hitter to lead Rowan Little League’s 12U softball all-stars to a 1-0 victory against Virginia as the seven-team Southeast Regional got underway on Thursday.

Schaen, a rising eighth-grader at Mooresville Middle School, struck out three and didn’t walk a batter. She hit a batter in the first inning. That was the only baserunner for a team from McLean, Va.

Schaen threw 65 pitches in the six-inning game, 47 for strikes.

Rowan managed only two hits against Virginia hurler Reese Mamajek, who struck out seven and walked none.

Rowan scored in the bottom of the first inning. Lauren Vanderpool, another rising eighth-grader at Mooresville Middle, led off with a single, stole second base and advanced to third on a ground ball by Schaen. Vanderpool raced home on a groundout to shortstop by Riley Haggas.

Schaen made that slim lead stand up. She got three straight groundouts in the sixth to end the game.

Rowan’s only base hit besides Vanderpool’s first-inning single was a hit leading off the third inning by Kynlee Dextraze. Kennedi Fisher executed on a sacrifice bunt, but Mamajek was able to retire Vanderpool and Schaen to end the inning.

In other games on Thursday, Tennessee, which edged Rowan in the regional championship game in 2018, routed South Carolina 18-0, while Florida won, 1-0, against Georgia.

In Friday’s games, Tennessee plays West Virginia at 11 a.m. Rowan takes on a team from Windermere, Florida at 2 p.m. Virginia plays Georgia in an elimination game at 5 p.m.

The tournament continues through Monday with a modified double elimination format.

Rowan (7-0) outscored three opponents 67-2 to win the District 2 championship and outscored three foes 41-2 to win the state tournament.

There are five regionals in progress in the U.S. — East, West, Central, Southwest and Southeast.

Those regional champions will join four international teams representing Canada, Latin America, Europe/Africa and Asia/Pacific in the Little League World Series in Portland, Ore., on Aug. 7-14.

 

Virginia    000  000   — 0   0   0

Rowan      100   00x   — 1     2   0

W — Schaen. L — Mamajek.

Leading hitters — Rowan: Dextraze 1-for-1; Vanderpool 1-for-2; Haggas 0-for-2, RBI.