Pack rally for Hilltop tourney win

By Adam Paul
Updated: May 8, 2021

West Hills makes the tag. / photo by Vic Marano

2021 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

CHULA VISTA – A late rally by West Hills (4-4) leads to a pair of runs scored in the bottom of the sixth inning and also an eventual 4-3 come-from-behind win over Scripps Ranch in Hilltop Tournament play on Saturday (May 8).

The Wolf Pack would strike first in the bottom of the second inning taking advantage of a misplayed ball by the Falcons to lead 1-0. The inning started with a base hit by Naomi Kai (3-3, R, RBI, 2B) who advanced to third on a base hit by Amaya Angeli (2-3, R). With runners at the corners up came Shannon Kim (RUN) who hit a hard hit to shortstop that was misplayed allowing Kai to come home.

Scripps Ranch (5-11) would answer with the tying run in the top of the third and take a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth inning.

But West Hills thanks to a base hit by Sabrina Brown (2-3, R, RBI) and a one-out single by Kai the game would be tied at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning.

But the Falcons would break the tie in the top of the sixth inning on a one-out solo home run by Tayla Hufford to give them the 3-2 lead.

However, things started off well for the Pack as Angeli led off the bottom of the sixth with a base hit, the next batter Shannon Kim put down a bunt that was misplayed allowing both runners to advance to second and third.

West Hills was in business as they had no outs and the tying and go-ahead runs at second and third base. Stepping to the plate was Maddie Edwards (RBI) who hit a ground ball to short that allowed Angeli to tie the game at 3-3 and advanced Kim to third base, the next batter Brown hit a fly ball to center field for the out but Kim tagged up from third and scored to retake the lead 4-3.

Things looked good for West Hills as Alyssa Thornton quickly retired the first two batters. However, trouble brewed when Miranda Murphy and Victoria Denosta hit consecutive base hits. So with two outs and the potential tying and go-ahead runs on up stepped Katie Rains. This didn’t faze Thornton as she was able to get Rains on the first pitch to pop up to Brown at short who caught it for the third and game-ending out.

Taking the loss for the Falcons was Madelyn Carniglia, she went five and two-thirds innings, allowing eight hits and four runs, and struck out four.

On the other side for West Hills, Thornton picked up the win as she went all seven innings in which she allowed nine hits and three runs.

Valhalla 14, Point Loma 6

CHULA VISTA – A late rally of thirteen runs over the fifth and sixth innings leads to a come-from-behind victory by the Valhalla Norsemen over the Point Loma Pointers on Saturday.

The Norsemen took advantage of a pair of errors by the Pointers as they were able to take a 1-0 lead early on thanks to a ground ball out by Bella Moscoso that scored Cadyn Ruffer.

But the Pointers would take a 2-1 lead on a pair of doubles in the bottom of the first inning.

They would eventually in the third and fourth innings stretch their lead to 6-1 that included multiple hits and also runs scoring courtesy of a fielding error by Valhalla.

In the top of the fifth inning, the Norsemen would rally to within 6-5. The first run came when Cadyn Ruffer scored on an error, Natalie Villalva would score on a base hit by McKayla Fish to make it 6-3.

Both Matiana Ferguson and Emily Van Der Zalm knocked in runs via ground ball outs to make it a one-run game.

Valhalla would eventually tie the game and take the lead for good with nine runs in the top of the sixth inning.

Villalva would drive in three runs in the inning, a couple of batters later Fish would drive in another run which would give Valhalla a 7-6 lead to which they wouldn’t relinquish.

Also driving in runs in the inning was Ferguson, Allie Piscopo, Aubrielle McKee on a sacrifice fly, Kaylani Worthy and Moscoso.

On the day the Norsemen tallied thirteen hits which included seven in their none-run outburst in the sixth inning.

Fish picked up the win for Valhalla as she went two innings, giving up no runs on one hit and striking out four.

Olympian 10, El Capitan 8

CHULA VISTA – Despite a late rally attempt by the El Capitan Vaqueros the Olympian Eagles managed to hold on and claim the victory on Saturday.

The Vaqueros would lead early on thanks to Katy Hicks who cleared the bases with one swing of the bat to give them a 3-0 lead.

But the Eagles with two outs would mount a rally starting with a base hit by Bella Hurtado that would advance Arianna Kumar to second base, the next batter Arisa Tovar would load the bases with a base hit.

With the bases loaded anything could happen and it did as Kumar would race home on a wild pitch to make it 3-1, still with runners now on second and third the batter Katie Steinmetz would tie the game up with a double to left field. She would advance to third on an error and would score when Itzell De Los Rios singled to right field which gave Olympian the 4-3 lead.

But the momentum was short-lived as Brooklyn Fukushima would lead off the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to tie the game at 4-4.

The Vaqueros would manage to load the bases in the inning starting with a Brooke Horn single, a two-out hit by a pitch by Hailey Mulligan, and a walk. Unfortunately, all three would be stranded as the next batter was retired to end the inning.

Olympian would break the tie game in the bottom of the sixth inning as their bats came alive and pushed across six runs.

A two-run double by Rachel Sarmiento broke the tie game to make it 6-4, the next batter Shantall Diaz-Ruiz drove in Sarmiento to make it 7-4, later with two outs Aimee Alvarado drove in Diaz-Ruiz, Hurtado followed with an RBI single scoring Kumar to make it 9-4, the following batter Tovar drove in Alvarado on a fielder’s choice.

El Capitan would strike back with runs of their own in the top of the sixth inning as they tried to mount a comeback. The first run came when Ava Gall hit a pop out to left field that allowed Siana San Vicente to tag up from third and score, the next batter Madison Fields would drive in Mulligan.

Still trailing 10-6 the next two batters Hicks and Fukushima drew consecutive walks. Now with the bases packed Horn came up and laced a single to right field that scored both Hicks and Fields which made it 10-8. That would be the closest the Vaqueros would get as the next batter was retired to end the threat and inning.

One last attempt by the Vaqueros to make a comeback in the top of the seventh inning started with a base hit by San Vicente. Unfortunately, the base hit would be wiped out by a double play and any hope of a comeback was thwarted on a ground ball out to end the game.