Trailing 8-5 after five full innings of Tuesday’s Central California Athletic League softball clash, the Pitman High varsity team scored four unanswered runs over the last two frames to walk off crosstown rival Turlock High to gain ground in the conference standings.
The 9-8 victory was highlighted by a three-run bottom of the seventh, which featured the Pride using three hits and some small ball to capitalize on a pair of Bulldog errors.
Trailing 8-6 heading into the final inning, senior Ivy Butler led off with a base hit to left field. A batter later, sophomore Anahi Cervantez singled on a ground ball to right field, with both runners advancing in scoring position following a fielding error. Fellow sophomore Kamryn Costa then cut the lead in half an infield single to the shortstop. The game became tied at eight runs after Cervantez scored on a sacrifice bunt from senior Tatiana Rios. A second ball hit to right field, this time off that bat of freshman Emma Ventura, resulted in another fielding error to plate Kosta and send everyone home.
The Bulldogs jumped out a 7-0 lead through the first 2.5 innings of play Tuesday, backed by a bases-clearing single to deep right field by sophomore Bailey Oates in the first inning, a run on an error in the second, as well as an RBI groundout from sophomore Madelyn Robison and a two-run single from sophomore Audrey Bailey in the third inning.
The Pride answered right back in the bottom half of the third, getting on the board for the first time with a vases-loaded walk drawn by sophomore Kaylee Fuller. It was immediately followed by an RBI single by sophomore Keanna Haro. Butler kept the line moving with a two-run single before Costa bunted home a fifth run.
Robison gave Turlock an insurance run in the fifth by scoring on a fielding error following a sharply hit grounder from Bailey. Pitman was able to get the run back in the sixth with an RBI single by freshman Juliet Jimenez, setting the stage for the fateful seventh inning.
On the mound, Jimenez pitched a complete game for the Pride, surrendering six earned runs on 12 hits and three walks, striking out five.
Despite an 11-5 loss to Enochs on Thursday, the Pride remain squarely in postseason contention through the first two weeks of the regular season. The team now sports a 3-3 record against conference opponents, three games behind the unbeaten Eagles and two games back of second-place Gregori.
The Bulldogs are also right in the mix despite a string of losses. On Thursday, Gregori pushed the Turlock losing streak to three games with an 18-6 score and pushed them down to fourth place with a 2-4 record.
The two programs will start the next week with non-conference action, the Pride will travel to face Trans-Valley league powerhouse Hughson at 4 p.m. Monday, while the Bulldogs will take the trip down to Merced to face Golden Valley at 4 p.m. Wednesday.
Huskies roll past Yellowjackets
As for those Huskies, the team improved to 3-0 in the TVL with a 14-1 route of Hilmar on Thursday. It was the fourth straight win for Hughson, which improved to 9-2 overall.
Hughson scored in all but two of the six innings of play, securing a mercy rule ending with five runs in the top of the sixth. Five different Huskies drove in multiple ruins, with four doing so off two or more hits over the high-scoring marathon.
Leading the way with three base knocks and two runs driven in, falling just a home run short of the cycle, was senior Presely Wells. She also scored twice.
Emma Carne, Leeanne Lopez, Olivea Morris and Madison Collins were others who each drove in two runs.
And while the hits and runs flooded the box score, it was the pitching of junior Kylie Tangney that continued to be the early story of Hughson’s season. The right-hander held Hilmar hitless over the six innings of play, walking only two and striking out 13. The lone run came on a throwing error in the fifth inning.
Tangney has been one of the section’s top pitchers to start the year. Through 52.2 innings over nine starts, Tangney has posted a 7-1 record with a 1.33 ERA (10 earned runs on 25 hits and 13 walks, while punching out a whopping 122. Her strikeout mark ranks first among all pitchers in the Sac-Joaquin Section and is second-most across California, just three behind Mia Valbuena of Marina High in Huntington Beach.
Sandwiched between next week’s Pitman and Turlock contests is a home clash with TVL foe Ripon on Thursday at 4 p.m.
