Linton leads Thunder at Stephanie LeDoux Tournament

Because of a rain cancellation, the Rocklin High softball team had its spring break start a little early. Saturday's games at the Stephanie LeDoux Tournament in Roseville were rained out and have been rescheduled for April 22. The first half of the two-day tournament was completed on Friday, with the Thunder going 1-1.Rocklin's other scheduled game last week, against Monterey Trail on April 5, was also rained out. That game has yet to be rescheduled.The rain has caused lots of scheduling problems for the Thunder so far this season. Rocklin (8-4-1 overall, 2-2 in Sierra Foothill League) will return to the field for a make-up game against Woodland on Monday (TBA) and a non-league game that was originally scheduled for that day against St. Francis was moved to April 22. That game was then bumped by the Stephanie LeDoux Tournament and will be rescheduled for another date.Rocklin coach Kirk Laux said this is not a good time for his team to have a break."I wish we were still playing," Laux said. "We hadn't played since (March 29) against Del Oro and then we were just getting back on track on Friday and now we're off again."After dropping Friday's opening game 2-1 to Casa Roble, Rocklin bounced back to beat West (of Tracy) 3-2.Rocklin junior Billie Roberts went 2-for-3 with two RBI while sophomore Britany Linton had a bases-loaded squeeze bunt to plate the winning run in the fifth inning. Because of time constraints the game was called after five innings.Rocklin senior Kristin Buker pitched into the fourth inning before Linton came on in relief. Linton got West to groundout three consecutive times in the last of the fifth inning. In the tournament opener against Casa Roble, the Thunder gave up two unearned runs in the top of the sixth inning. The game was called after six innings.Rocklin retired the first two batters in the sixth inning before making three consecutive errors. The final error, a groundball to the pitcher, allowed the second run to score.Linton pitched the whole game, allowing no earned runs. "It was just a fluke," Laux said. "Brittany threw a two-hitter and I told her not to worry about it (the error) and that it (three consecutive errors) will never happen again."Linton also drove in Rocklin's only run with a double in the fifth inning. Rocklin senior Laura McTaggert also hit a double in the loss for the Thunder.The Thunder had plenty of chances to score more runs. They had runners on second and third with not outs in the third inning without scoring and a first and third situation in the fourth inning didn't produce a run either.