Southwest gives Sultans another loss

East County Sports staff report

EL CENTRO (4-28-2019) – Another troublesome start left Santana High facing a 4-run deficit after just one inning, as the Eagles of Southwest High buried the Sultans, 6-3, to hand the visitors their fifth loss in six starts.

Four walks, a hit batter and an error and an RBI single by Alexandra Salcedo led to the poor start. Meanwhile, Southwest senior pitcher Sadriena Rodriguez breezed with 10 strikeouts in tossing a 4-hitter.

One of the few highlights for Santana was a 7th-inning, 2-run homer by Nicole Penton March, but the blast to left ed Hailey Oceguera (walk), was mostly cosmetic as Salcedo ran her record to 4-4.

On Friday, Brawley, the top-ranked club in D-II, also downed Santana, 11-6.

With their recent slump, Santana is in danger of falling to among the bottom four clubs in Division I.

For the Sultans (10-8), the only other run came on a leadoff homer by Joey Barkhimer to start the second inning.

Southwest (14-10) saw Rodriguez bat 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, while sophomore Jaelyn Niebla tripled.