Foothillers, Patriots, first-day survivors

By Adam Paul
Updated: May 14, 2024

2024 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
CIF-San Diego Section Championships

By Adam Paul

DIVISION III

EL CENTRO – Big day for freshman Saraya Roope (3-4, 2 R, 2B, 2 SB) as she helped propel the No. 10 Grossmont Foothillers to a 7-3 victory on the road down in the Valley over No. 7 Southwest El Centro in a play-in game Tuesday evening.

Roope collected three hits in four at-bats for the Hillers including a single in the third inning, a double in the fifth, and a single in the seventh inning.

Southwest EC early on would lead 2-0 early thanks to runs scored in the bottom of the first inning and in the third inning.

Grossmont would answer in the top of the fourth inning when Eliana Vasquez (1-3, R) scored on a passed ball and Heidi Villa (1-3, RBI) tied the game on a base hit to center field that brought home Ashley Beard (1-3, R, RBI).

The Eagles would retake the lead in the bottom of the inning courtesy of an RBI single by Kianah Alvarez which put them ahead 3-2.

But the Foothillers would retake the lead for good in the fifth inning after Jenna Ennis hit a sacrifice fly bringing in Roope which was followed a couple of batters later with a hard-hit ground ball out by Beard that allowed Nakhia Lee (2-3, 2 R, SB) to race home for the 4-3 lead.

Later in the seventh inning, Lee would single but in the process, the Eagles first baseman would misplay the ball allowing Roope who led off the inning with a single to come home after she had stolen second base. Lee would come into score on a successful steal of home and Carleigh Wenck (1-3, RBI) would drive in Ennis to finish off the scoring.

Roope earned the victory for Grossmont as she allowed three runs on eight hits over seven innings in which she walked one and struck out four to even her record at 9-9.

Grossmont eliminated Southwest EC and improved to 11-12-2 overall and will move on to take on No. 2 Point Loma whom they lost to 6-0 back on April 7th. The game will be May 15 at 3:30 PM.

DIVISION I

DEL CERRO – In a tight contest that came down to late-inning all knotted at 2-2 when with two outs Breanna DeGuzman (1-3, RBI) laced the game-winning single to center field to give the No.7 Patrick Henry Patriots the come from behind 3-2 victory in nine innings over No. 10 Santana in a play-in elimination game on Tuesday afternoon.

With pitching strong on both sides scoring opportunities would be rare as each team struck out six on the day.

Patrick Henry early on would take a 1-0 lead with two outs when Kayla Free scored on a passed ball to give them a 1-0 lead.

However, Santana would answer back to tie the game in the top of the third inning on a two-out RBI single by Delaney Smith (1-4, RBI) that scored Sara Spry (1-3, R).

A couple of innings later the Sultans would take the lead on a two-out RBI double by Ashlyn Darrow (2-3, RBI, 2B) that allowed Emma Schneider (RUN) to come home to make it 2-1.

Later in the bottom of the seventh inning with two outs facing elimination, the Patriots would dramatically tie things up as Izzy Ervin (1-4, RBI) singled and in the process, Brooke Taylor (1-2, R, 2 SB) who had stolen second base raced around third and scored to tie the game at 2-2.

Belle Will drew the start for Patrick Henry but wouldn’t factor in the decision. On the day she allowed two runs on four hits over seven innings in which she walked five and struck out five. Zoe Rutherford who came into the game in relief would toss two innings allowing one hit and zero runs while striking out one to earn the victory.

On the other side for the Sultans, Aurelia Dawson started and would be tagged with the loss as she allowed three runs on five hits over eight and two-thirds innings while walking four and striking out six.

With the loss the Santana Sultans are officially eliminated and finish the season 11-16.

Patrick Henry with the win extends their home winning streak to three games in a row and their winning streak is now two in a row. They will move on and travel down to Chula Vista to take on the No. 2 Bonita Vista Barons in First Round action on May 15 at 3:30 PM.

DIVISION I

VISTA – Five runs scored in the fourth inning led to 8-1 victory by No. 8 Rancho Buena Vista over No. 9 El Capitan on Tuesday afternoon.

Rancho Buena Vista would score two runs in the bottom of the second inning and in the fourth inning pushed across five runs on six hits.

El Capitan would score their lone run in the top of the seventh inning when Kylee Frazier with two outs singled to center scoring Sofia Simone who led off with a single.

Shelby Vars drew the start and would take the loss as she allowed seven runs on seven hits over three and two-thirds innings in which she walked two. Alyssa Cole came in and tossed two and a third inning of relief in which she allowed one run on four hits while walking two.

Kameron McDaniel would go 3-for-3 on the day, Alanna Christiaens doubled for her only hit of the contest and Alyssa Fierro had a hit.

El Capitan drops their second straight and finishes their season with a record of 12-13-4.

DIVISION I

SAN MARCOS – A strong start by Abby Huhn along with great run support propel the No. 6 Mission Hills Grizzlies to the convincing five-inning 10-0 victory over No. 10 Helix on Tuesday.

Grizzlies starter Abby Huhn completely dominated Helix as she tossed a complete five-inning one-hit shutout in which she walked one and fanned 11.

The only hit for Helix came courtesy of Ta’Tianna Wright who doubled in the top of the fourth inning.

Helix with the loss drops their seventh in a row and finishes the season 8-18.

DIVISION II

SANTEE – Ten runs scored in the fifth inning by the No. 10 Mt. Carmel Sundevils dooms the No. 7 West Hills Wolf Pack as they prevail 10-4 Tuesday afternoon.

West Hills opened up the scoring early thanks to Abby Farmer who drove in a pair of runs with two outs in the bottom of the first inning to make it 2-0.

But things would change as the Sundevils broke the scoring dam as they pushed the game wide open with ten runs to take a 10-2 lead.

The Wolf Pack would push across two more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning behind a sacrifice fly by Kristina Deal that allowed Lili Leija to come in and Maddie Aylesbury followed with an RBI single scoring Amaya Angeli.

Ava Goodman who started for the Pack would take the loss as she allowed nine runs on six hits over four and a third inning of work in which she walked four and struck out four. Aylesbury came in and tossed two and a third inning of relief in which she allowed one run on three hits while walking one.

With the loss West Hills sees their six-game home winning streak snapped and finish the season 17-10-1.