Cougars rally in dramatic fashion

By Adam Paul
Updated: March 11, 2022

2022 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

Chula Vista (3-10-22) – Down to their final at-bats and down by seven runs the Steele Canyon Cougars would rally and score eight runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull off the 14-13 comeback victory over the Olympian Eagles in Hilltop Tournament action on Thursday afternoon.

Early on in the top of the first inning, the Cougars would take a 1-0 lead on a ground ball out by Abby Curran (2-5, 2R, 2 RBI, 2B) that allowed Jazmin Williams (4-5, 2R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, SB) to score.

Trailing 2-1 in the top of the second inning Madison Villaescuas (3-4, R, 2B) of the Cougars would tie the game at 2-2 when she would single but the ball was misplayed allowing Hailey Trujillo (1-2, R) to come home.

However, the momentum for the Cougars wouldn’t last as the Eagles would push across four runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead 6-2. They would add five more runs in the bottom of the third inning to extend the lead to 11-2.

But Steele Canyon little by little would chip away at the deficit. Starting in the top of the fifth inning with two outs Isabella Smith (2-3, R, 3 RBI, 2B) would double to center field scoring both Sa’Ni Marshall (RUN) and Curran to make it 11-4, Isabella Azevedo (2-4, 2R, 2 RBI, 2B) followed with another double to bring in Smith which made it 11-5, and the next batter Breanna Lakin (1-2, 2 RBI, 3B) tripled to right field to make it 11-6.

Olympian would answer with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.

Trailing 13-6 things didn’t look good for the Cougars but they knew they just had to do things one at a time. They would start off with a lead double by Kamea Seunarine (3-5, 2R, RBI, 2 2B) who would come around and score when Azevedo ripped a one-out triple to right field, the next batter Lakin would ground out but Azevedo would race home to make it 13-8.

Down to their final out the Cougars needed to continue and they did as Gabrielle Ortega Alves (1-3, R) singled, Villaescuas followed with a double to put runners at second and third, the next batter Williams would rope a two-run double which made it 13-10 and she would come into score on an Allyson Haessly (2-3, R, RBI, 2 2B) double, she would race around to score when Curran hit a hard ground ball that got thru for a base hit to right field.

Now trailing 13-12 and Curran at first base with two outs and Seunarine come up to bat, she would promptly smash a ball to right field for an RBI triple. With the score tied at 13-13 the Cougars were in business and their momentum continued as Smith followed with an RBI single to give the Cougars their first lead since the top of the first inning.

Now with a one-run lead, Davina Moya who came in to relieve Emma Shellstrom would retire the first couple of batters. Despite a runner reaching on an error, this didn’t phase Moya as she retired the next batter on a pop-up to complete the epic comeback.