Cougars outlast Hillers In slugfest; Sultans shutout Centurions

By Adam Paul
Updated: May 1, 2023

2023 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

Steele Canyon 12, Grossmont 10

EL CAJON – In quite the slugfest, the Steele Canyon Cougars rallied with nine runs in the top of the seventh inning and held off a Grossmont Foothiller rally in the bottom half to preserve an exciting come-from-behind victory in non-league action on Monday (May 1).

Prior to the fireworks of the seventh inning, scoring would come in batches for both teams, starting with Grossmont leading 1-0 early on.

Jade Daley would give the Foothillers the early lead with an RBI double in the bottom of the first inning.

Steele Canyon would tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the third inning when Illy Barclay scored on a wild pitch.

RBI singles by both Eliana Vasquez and Jenna Ennis in the bottom of the fourth inning would give Grossmont a 3-1 lead.

After a two-run double by Jazmin Williams tied the game in the top of the fifth inning, the Foothillers would answer with three runs of their own with two outs.

Carleigh Wenck drove in a pair of runs, followed by Ennis, who again drove in another run for Grossmont to give them a 6-3 lead.

Down to their final at-bats, the Cougars kicked off their momentum with a two-run home run by Williams deep to center field.

Steele Canyon, now only trailing 6-5 would continue on as Danika Lakin singled, Emma Shellstrom walked, and Hailey Trujillo singled to load the bases. The Cougars would tie the game on a fly ball out to center field, in which Lakin tagged up from third and raced home safely.

After a base hit by Isabella Azevedo to load the bases again, the next batter, Kayala Hopkins, would draw a walk to break the tie and give them a 7-6 lead.

Another three runs scored, courtesy of a sac fly, bringing in Hopkins. A two-run single by Illy Barclay would bring up Williams again.

As she had in her previous at-bat in the inning, Williams belted another home run to center field for her sixth of the season, giving the Cougars a 12-6 lead.

Grossmont, though, didn’t go down without a fight, as Iryana Oliver would drive in a run on a ground out to score Vasquez, which was followed by Ennis and Heidi Villa both scoring on a wild pitch to bring them within 12-9.

The Foothillers would pull within 12-10 when Nakhia Lee followed with an RBI double to center allowing Ashley Beard to come in and score. The next batter, Daley, would walk to put the tying run at first. Unfortunately, Katelynn Parent would ground out to end the game.

Seunarine, who came into the game in the fifth inning in relief, would pick up the win as she allowed seven runs on eight hits. Shellstrom, who started and didn’t factor in the decision, allowed three runs on five hits over four innings.

Beard, who came into the game in relief for Grossmont, would take the loss as she allowed five runs on four hits in her one inning of work. Vasquez, who started and wouldn’t factor in the decision, allowed seven runs on twelve hits over six innings, while striking out four.

Santana 4, University City 0

SANTEE – Starting a new month on the right foot is always a goal for a team, and that is exactly what the Santana Sultans did as they beat the University Centurions 4-0 on Monday (May 1) afternoon in non-league action.

Kyleigh Aason, who drew the pitching start for Santana, kept the University City bats pretty quiet on the day over her seven innings of work. Aason allowed only four hits while shutting the Centurions out.

Santana (16-4-1) offensively started early in the first inning, thanks to Taylin Warren, who doubled to left field allowing Sara Spry to come around to score from second base to give them a 1-0 lead.

Later in the fourth inning, after back-to-back one-out hits by Kaitlyn Ruckle and Kaitlyn Ours and a walk by Carissa Ruiz to load the bases, the Sultans would score another run when Marley Ridgels laid down a sacrifice bunt that was misplayed by the pitcher, allowing Ruckle to plate to make it 2-0.

University City (4-17) would threaten in the top of the fifth inning as Jordyn Yanez-Reinert doubled and McKenna Jenkins followed with a base hit to center field with two outs. Both would be stranded when Aason struck out the next batter to end the inning.

The Sultans, still leading 2-0, would add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when Emma Schneider belted a two-run blast to left field for her sixth of the season.

Aason, now staked with a 4-0 lead, would do the rest as she allowed only one hit, a double, in the last two innings to finish off the Centurions. She would strike out two along the way in picking up the victory.