Softball Walks It Off in Extra-Inning Thriller
| Final (10) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Golden West
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 1 |
|
Santiago Canyon
|
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 14 | 4 |
Freshman shortstop Yazmine Garcia stepped up to the plate with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning with runners on second and third with one out in a three-all ball game against the Golden West College Rustlers. After the Hawks scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game up and force extras, Garcia put the final nail in the Rustler's coffin by squaring up a bunt that sent freshman left fielder Tasneem Kerdiya diving home head first resulting in a 4-3 victory.
T. Kerdiya kicked the bottom of the 10th inning off by singling through the left side and advancing to second base on a sacrifice bunt from sophomore right fielder Selena Salcido. Freshman catcher Grace Potter followed by barreling an infield single and promptly swiping second. The rest was up to Garcia who came through for the Hawks.
Garcia also flashed some serious leather in the top of the ninth innings as the Rustlers threatened in nearly every extra frame. She made two incredible plays capped by hosing a baserunner on her knees deep in the hole to end the top half of the inning.
The bats did not wake up until the fifth inning for the Hawks as freshman designated player Isabella Altamirano drove in the team's first run of the game on a single to center field, scoring Garcia, to trim the deficit to 3-1.
Santiago Canyon went on to push across two runs in the seventh inning starting with a sacrifice fly from sophomore pinch hitter Raneem Kerdiya to score Garcia once again. Altamirano followed with a two-out single up the middle to score sophomore center fielder Alyssa Patlan to force free softball.
Sophomore hurler Madison Lee (9-20) had one of her stronger outings of the season by going the distance and allowing just two earned runs on seven hits. She fanned six batters in the process.
Altamirano went 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI, while T. Kerdiya notched a three-hit game and scoring the game-winning run. Garcia was responsible for driving in the game-winning run on a 2-for-5 day leading to an RBI and two runs scored, while Salcido clocked in a 2-for-4 day at the dish.
It was the first come-from-behind win of the season for the Hawks resulting in their 10th triumph of the season. They will close out a three-game series against Golden West tomorrow on the road at 2 p.m.