TRAVERSE CITY -- Heather Sanderson was in a groove Tuesday afternoon.
Much to the chagrin of the St. Francis Gladiators.
The freshman right-hander struck out 15 in pitching the Rockets to a 4-0 win over St. Francis in a Division 4 softball quarterfinal at Thirlby Field.
Rapid River (23-8) will now face Unionville-Sebewaing (39-1) in a semifinal Friday in Battle Creek. Unionville-Sebewaing edged Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart 1-0 in eight innings Tuesday.
The Rockets will need Sanderson to be at her best. Unionville-Sebewaing had hit a state-record 52 home runs this season entering the quarterfinals.
"They rip the ball," Gladiators coach Mike Doriot said. "And they've got a flamethrower (Jillian Williamson), too.
"Whoever wins that game Friday will be the state champ."
Rapid River is making its first Final Four appearance, thanks in part to Sanderson, who limited St. Francis to two hits.
"She's a great pitcher," Doriot said. "Reports I had said she could throw. She has great technique."
Sanderson pitched Rapid River to 3-2 and 4-2 wins in the regional, although coach Andy Schwartz said his ace "wasn't sharp" in the title game.
"This was better than her last game," Schwartz said. "She didn't have her A game (in the regional final). She had her B game.
"But she was throwing hard today. She was throwing darts."
Sanderson admitted she "tired" in the regional final against Onaway.
"Today I felt good," she said. "I was a little nervous at the start, but then I got going and got into a groove."
Rapid River scored its four runs in the fifth inning on just one hit -- a single to center by Ashley Monticello, which moved pinch runner Audrey Larsen to third. Larsen eventually scored the game's first run.
In all, the Rockets plated the four runs on a walk, a single, a fielder's choice (batter was safe), an error, a wild pitch and a run-scoring ground out.
"I kept telling the girls that we needed to put the ball in play," Schwartz said. "And we did that. I think we only had three Ks today. We were able to put the bat on the ball, and put pressure on them to make plays."
Doriot agreed that was the difference.
"They hardly hit the ball out of the infield (in the four-run fifth)," he said. "We didn't put pressure on them, they put pressure on us. It came down to whoever makes a mistake (is going to lose the game)."
Sanderson made sure it wasn't Rapid River.
"When you don't make them field the ball, not much is going to happen," Doriot said.
Amy Brunner tossed a four-hitter in defeat. Maggie Esler and Heather Larsen had the St. Francis hits.
St. Francis was playing without leading hitter Ellen Kendziorski, who suffered a compound fracture in her thumb early in the regional title game.
"That would have been huge to have her hitting No. 1 in our order," Doriot said. "Ellen hits this pitching. If we could have put pressure on them early, who knows what could have happened.
"But Rapid River's a good team. I'd like to see a team from the north win it all."
The Gladiators, who started three freshmen Tuesday, finished the season 22-13.
As for Rapid River, there's still more softball to play.
"This is really exciting," Sanderson said. "This is high school ball, not Little League. This is fun."
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