For six out of seven innings, the Person Rockets played near perfect defensively to keep the visiting Pine Forest Trojans at bay.

The only problem was the one frame where they couldn’t hold down the visitors.

That was the top of the sixth inning when the Trojans erupted for six runs to snatch away a 6-2 victory Tuesday in the first round of the Division 4A East Regional softball playoffs at Person High School Field.

The defeat ended second-seeded Person’s season at 14-6 overall, while No. 3 Pine Forest, a member of the Two Rivers Conference, improved to 17-6 and advanced to play top-seeded West Johnston in the second round later this week.

This was also the second year in a row the Rockets have been eliminated in round one at home. Person dropped a 4-2 decision to Richmond in 2007.

“They’re a good ball club. The only losses they’ve had all year have been by one run, so they’re no slouches,” said Rocket head coach Mike Shotwell of the Trojans. “Give them credit. We made some mistakes today and they took advantage of them.”

Coach Shotwell made reference to a walk and an error that put the first two Pine Forest runners on base in the sixth, adding that those two at-bats may have been the turning point of the contest.

“I think I’m going to remember those two at-bats all summer,” he commented.

With one out and Person ahead 1-0, Rocket starter Brittany Shotwell, who had hurled a perfect game through five innings, walked Cynthia Vick, who turned out to be the Trojans’ first base runner of the contest. The next batter bunted a topper back to the mound but Shotwell elected to try for the runner going to second. The throw was too low to handle and both runners were safe.

That set the stage for Pine Forest’s rally, as Jennifer Weaver cracked a single to right field (the first hit off Shotwell) to score the first run and tie the game. A failed rundown by Person then helped the Trojans load the bases.

Shotwell fanned the next hitter and looked as if she might escape further damage when she had two strikes on Taryn Wigal. But Wigal was not fooled on the next pitch and stroked a base-clearing double to the fence in left field and suddenly Pine Forest had a 4-1 advantage.

Another walk and a single by Kristen Struck led to two more runs to put the Trojans up by five, which proved to be more than enough to secure the win.

Erica Reaves drew a walk to lead off the Person sixth and came around to score on an error but that would be the last noise the Rockets would make.

“Other than that one inning, we played pretty well today,” Coach Shotwell said. “That double that scored three runs was a real killer. We didn’t see that coming.”

The Trojans were retired in order by Brittany Shotwell (nine strikeouts, two walks for the game) through the first five innings, helped out by some nice defense from her teammates.

Leftfielder Sara Wrenn chased down a hard line drive in the fourth inning, and centerfielder Chelsea Wrenn raced in to snag a sinking liner to end the fifth.

Person scored first by utilizing its patented aggressive base running to scratch across a tally in the third.

Melissa Harris singled and Carrie Albert reached on an error to open the inning. A eventual passed ball on a strikeout allowed Harris to score.

Albert also attempted to score on the same play but was called out when it appeared she may have slid safely underneath the tag of the Pine Forest catcher.

Other than their two manufactured runs, the Rockets weren’t able to muster much against Trojan ace Morgan Vick, who struck out eight, surrendered just two hits and walked one. Vick came into the contest with an impressive 1.31 ERA and earned her 15th win of the season. She didn’t allow a hit over the final four frames. Meanwhile, Brittany Shotwell, who had a 0.70 ERA coming in, suffered her fourth loss of the year against 11 wins.

The Rockets finished the season by winning 12 of their final 15 games and ended up second in the Piedmont Athletic Conference at 12-2, one game back of Riverside.