Although Maroa-Forsyth is only six miles to the south, an argument could be made that the Monticello Sages, and not the Lady Trojans, are the Clinton Lady Maroons’ chief Okaw Valley rival.
Senior and Junior Lady Maroon players remember well how the 2008 and 2009 seasons came to an end.
In 2008, the Lady Maroons were three outs away from winning the regional championship and advancing to the sectional for the first time in four years.
Ace Shelbi Rentmeister was on the mound and Clinton had a one-run lead in the top of the seventh. But Shelbi injured herself in the previous inning and the Sages scored two runs before the Lady Maroons could record an out. Clinton couldn’t get anything going and Monticello celebrated their regional championship on Clinton’s turf.
The two teams met the following year in Monticello for the regional semifinal. The Maroons and Sages may have been the two best teams in the Okaw that year, but it was the Sages walking away with an 11-1 five-inning victory in Rentmeister’s final high school start.
The Lady Maroons look to enact a measure of revenge Thursday night when the Sages invade Clinton.
Perhaps the best Clinton softball moment of the Emily Starkey era came in 2003 when the Sages boasted a 30-0 record before falling to Clinton at home in the final Okaw Valley Championship Game ever played.
These two teams have history. And the next chapter will be written Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment