Patriots fall in finals of delayed Jaguar Classic

By ECS Staff
Updated: April 17, 2016

Patrick Henry in a post-game picture following the conclusion of the Jaguar Tournament on Saturday.

2016 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

By Adam Paul
© East County Sports.com

VALLEY CENTER (4-16-16) — The Patrick Henry Patriots traveled way up north to Valley Center to finish up the Jaguar Classic tournament that had been rained out last month and in the process split their day. In the semi-finals they took on the host Valley Center Jaguars and came away with the 6-0 victory, Saturday (Apr.16).

Both teams held each other in check until the top of the third inning when the Patriots broke through with 4 runs as CASSIE VAN TIL (1-3, R) started off with single, HANNAH MCEWEN (1-4, R) doubled advancing Van Til to third, ANYA VANDERSIP (run) hit a ground ball to short that scored Van Til to make it 1-0, McEwen stole third base, CHRISTIONA CACCAMISE (2-2, 3 RBI, 2 R, HR) singled which brought in McEwen to make it 2-0. So with one out and a runner on up stepped DANI ROMERO (1-2, 2 RBI, R, HR) who on a 2-1 count took the offering and bombed it over the fence for the 2-run homer to push the score to 4-0.

The Patriots tacked on their final two runs in the top of the fifth when Vandersip was hit by a pitch, she would advance to second on a passed ball, Caccamise worked the count full before she crushed the offering over the wall for a 2-run jack to extend the lead to 6-0.

The six runs would be all the Patriots would need as freshman pitcher LAILA SPRACKLEN who was on the JV team showed a preview of what the future would look like as she tamed the Jaguars. In the victory she went the full game, gave up 0 runs on 4 hits, 0 walks and struck out 6 Jags to earn her first career varsity victory.

RAMONA 3, PATRICK HENRY 2 – Patrick Henry with their victory earlier in the day would take on the Ramona Bulldogs who had previously beaten San Pasqual 9-1 in their semifinal, in the Gold Division Championship and unfortunately the Bulldogs would rally late for the 3-2 victory, Saturday (Apr.16).

The Bulldogs came into the championship as the No. 2 team in the latest CIF Division 1 power rankings while the Patriots were slotted No. 13 in the power rankings. So the fans were in for a treat as it was a contest between two of the top programs in the county.

In the circle for the Bulldogs was the crafty HANAH BOWEN who when these two teams met last month limited the Patriots to only 1 hit in the 10-0 shutout. However the Patriots wouldn’t be shut out this time around as they promptly scored 2 runs in the first inning as HANNAH MCEWEN (1-4, R, 2B) doubled, and would come around to score when with two outs DANI ROMERO (1-2, RBI, R) hit a ball to center for a single that scored McEwen, but the centerfielder misplayed the ball which allowed Romero to come around the bases to score to make it 2-0 early on.

Taking the circle for the Patriots again was LAILA SPRACKLEN who showed her poise going up against the high powered lineup of the Bulldogs. Despite the Bulldogs threatening to score in both the first two innings, Spracklen shut down the threat each time around. However Ramona would break through with a run in the top of the third inning with two outs as Bowen would help her cause as she drove in a run to cut the lead to 2-1.

Patrick Henry would threaten to put more runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning as SAVANNAH CHAPMAN (1-3) and TATYANA GUERRERO (1-2) both singled in consecutive at bats with one out. The next batter CASSIE VAN TIL (1-3) moved the runners over with a ground ball but McEwen would fly out to left field to end the inning. They would threaten again with less than 2 outs in the bottom of the fifth inning as CRISTIONA CACCAMISE walked and Romero reached on an error which allowed Caccamise to advance to second base. However Bowen was able to get out of the inning as she retired the next two batters to end the threat.

Still leading by a slim margin the Patriots were in good shape but in the top of the sixth inning the Bulldogs were able to break through and push across two runs to take a 3-2 lead. Unfortunately for the Patriots they would go down in order in their half of the sixth inning. Ramona wouldn’t score in the top of the seventh which would give Patrick Henry a chance as they would have the top of the lineup coming to bat. However leadoff hitter McEwen would fly out to left field for the first out, ANYA VANDERSIP would fly out to right field for the second out and Caccamise would fly out as well to right field for the third and final out of the game to give the Bulldogs the 2016 Jaguar Classic Gold Division Championship.

Bulldogs pitcher Bowen went all 7 innings in the victory in which she gave up 2 runs on 5 hits, walked 3 and struck out 3. Meanwhile taking the hard luck loss for the Patriots, Spracklen also would go the full 7 innings, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits, 0 walks and 0 strikeouts.

By Adam Paul, © EastCountySports.com