ROUNDUP: Four East teams grab wins

By Adam Paul
Updated: March 22, 2018

Steele Canyon following a win at Brawley on Wednesday.

2018 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

EastCountySports.com

GROSSMONT 3, RANCHO BERNARDO 2

In a non-conference game, the Foothillers were able to bounce back on the road with a big win against the Broncos.

Rancho Bernardo who was looking to bounce back after a tough loss to San Marcos the other day started off with a run in the bottom of the first inning to take an early 1-0 lead.

The slim lead would stand for the Broncos until the Foothillers rolled together an opportunity starting with a Kimmy Bond (1-4, R, 2B) lead double, K Contreras (1-4, RBI, 2B) followed with another double that scored Bond to tie the game at 1-1, Jordan Brown (2-3) laced a single which advanced Contreras to third, Samaria Roope (1-3) would ground into a fielder’s choice in which Contreras was thrown out at home, both Jamie Medlin (RUN) and Aly Allman (1-3, R) score in the inning to give the Foothillers a 3-1 lead.

Things got a little interesting in the bottom of the fourth as the Broncos would get the first two runners on, however, Roope would retire the next three batters in a row to end the threat.

Grossmont had another opportunity to put runs on the board in the top of the fifth as Brown and Roope had back-to-back singles. Unfortunately both would be stranded.

With the score still 3-1 in favor of Grossmont heading into the bottom of the fifth the Broncos knew they were running out of chances. A leadoff walk which led to an advancement to third would come into score on a base hit to pull them within 3-2. Rancho Bernardo again threatened in the bottom of the seventh with a one out double but once again Roope shut the door on the Broncos.

Roope tossed 7 inning for the complete game victory giving up 2 runs in which both were earned on 7 hits while walking 2 and striking out 4 on the day.

STEELE CANYON 3, BRAWLEY 1 (FALCON FIESTA TOURNAMENT)

Despite both teams pitching holding each other in check the Cougars were able to push across runs in the second and third innings to hold off the Wild Cats for the victory.

Trailing 1-0 in the top of the second inning and looking like they would go down in order the Cougars with two outs received a single by Carly Logan (2-3, R), a walk by Masen Pearlstein (RUN) and a triple by Lexi Hutchinson (1-2, 2 RBI, 3B) that scored both Logan and Pearlstein to give the Cougars a 2-1 lead.

Steele Canyon would tack on another run in the top of the third to extend their lead to 3-1 when JJ Venzor (2-4, R, RBI, HR) led off with a solo bomb over the right field fence. They pushed for more with two outs as Bianca Morales (1-3, 2B) doubled but she would be stranded.

In the bottom of the third inning with two outs Grace Richter gave up a double but she retired the next two batters to end the threat.

The one run would be all Richter would need as she limited the Wild Cats to four hits on the day in the complete game victory. She tossed 7 innings, giving up 1 run which was earned while walking 2 and striking out 2.

SANTANA 13, MONTGOMERY 0 (HILLTOP TOURNAMENT)

A balanced offense by the Sultans propels them to an easy home victory over the Aztecs as they prepare for the weekend.

Santana would go onto score nine runs in the bottom of the first inning which started on a Krysten Service single, back-to-back walks by Madison Mendez and Mackenzie Bennett, Service scored on a passed ball, Joey Barkhimer was hit by a pitch, Ashley Madrigal singled which scored Mendez to make it 2-0. The Sultans would push their lead to 5-0 when Emma Leggett singled to left which scored both Barkhimer and Madrigal. They would add on four more runs.

The Sultans would do more damage in the bottom of the fourth thanks to a double by Nicole Madrigal that scored both Brittany Munday who walked and Shelby holmquist who singled. This was followed by a single by Mackenzie Sims that scored Bennett to round out the scoring.

Barkhimer tossed 3 innings giving up 1 hit and fanning 6 while Leggett went 2 innings giving up 1 hit and striking out 1.

HELIX 5, IMPERIAL 4 (DUDS BY DUDES TOURNAMENT) – GAME CALLED AFTER 6 INNINGS DUE TO TIME LIMIT

The visiting Tigers from the Imperial Valley would strike first as they had back-to-back hits and scored on wild pitch to lead 1-0.

However the Highlanders would tie the game in the bottom of the first inning as Avery Perez led off with a walk, she would advance on a sacrifice by Erin Brown, Mckenzie Flores followed with a single and Perez came into score via a wild pitch.

A couple of errors and base hits in the top of the fourth inning would allow the Tigers to regain the lead 4-1.

The Highlanders down to their last outs knew they had to put together some offense. Things started off right as Brown singled to lead off, Flores walked as did Nicole Hernandez to load the bases with one out. Helix would cut the Tigers lead in half thanks to a Kasey Castro base hit making it 4-2, Zoe Kuhlken followed with a sacrifice fly and thanks to a bad throw a pinch runner would come into score all the way from second which tied the game at 4-4.

With two outs and still with a chance to win as pinch runner Alyssa Cruz was at second base. Up came Bella Bordine who took the offering and blooped it to left center which scored Bordine to give Helix the victory.

Kuhlken who came in the fifth inning to relieve Laurali Patane earned the victory on the day.