Vaqs continue qinning ways In tight contest

By Adam Paul
Updated: April 1, 2022

2022 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul

LAKESIDE (4-1-22) – A six-run deluge by the El Capitan Vaqueros along with a thwarted late comeback earn them a 7-6 victory ovr El Centro-Central on Friday afternoon. The win came a day after the Vaqueros won their league opener against the Santana Sultans by the same score.

Things early on would go the way of the Spartans as they would jump out to a 1-0 lead when Alexia Rubio would drive in a run and they would extend the lead to 2-0 in the top of the third inning.

Moving to the bottom of the fourth inning the Spartans were handcuffing the Vaqueros offensively but that would all change when JoJo Christiaens (1-3, R, 2 RBI, 2B) doubled in both Dominique Garcia (1-3, R) and Hailey Mulligan (2-3, R) to tie the game up.

A couple of batters later with one out Payton Wells (2-3, 2B, 2 RBI) would smash a ball to center field that scored both Ava Gall (1-3, R) and Christiaens with Wells ending up on second base. The two-run double would allow the Vaqueros to take a 4-2 lead. Later in the inning, the Vaqueros would take advantage of a Spartans error and in doing so would tack on two more runs as both Shelby Vars (RUN) and Addi Leone (RUN) would both touch home plate.

Leading by a score of 6-2 the Vaqueros looked like they had control but the Spartans would chip away at the lead starting with a run in the top of the sixth inning to cut the deficit in half 6-3.

Still leading by three runs in the top of the seventh inning the Vaqueros behind Wells would get the first two outs after starting off with a hit by pitch. However, the Spartans wouldn’t go down as they would take advantage of an error made off of a hard hit ball which advanced the runner to third base.

Now with runners on second and third and two outs, Rubio came to the plate and laced an RBI single to centerfield, and in the process, the ball was misplayed allowing the other runner to come into score to pull within 6-5 which is the closest they would get as Wells retired the next batter to end the game.

Well garnered the victory as she allowed five runs of which three were earned on seven hits over seven innings of work, she also walked two and struck out three on the day.

El Capitan has now won seven in a row and improved their record to 11-4 on the season.