CITY: Henry, Christian get wins
- Updated: April 26, 2018
2018 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
By Adam Paul
EastCountySports.com
CITY-WESTERN LEAGUE
PATRICK HENRY 10, UNIVERSITY CITY 2
A deadly combination of pitching, defense and hitting propelled the Patriots to the convincing victory over the Centurions on Wednesday afternoon.
Patrick Henry got the bats rolling in the top of the first inning as Lauren Nett (2-4, 2R, RBI) and Maddie Simmons (2-3, R, RBI, 2B) hit back-to-back two-out singles, both came around to score on a smashed two-out double by Jessica Dewitt to make it 2-0.
Back to back walks by Laila Spracklen (1-3, R) and Maggie Zimmerly (RUN) led to a pouring of runs for the Patriots as both scored. The Patriots added more runs as Savanah Chapman (1-5, R) and Ari Rios (1-3, 2R, RBI) singled and Nett drove in Chapman with a base hit to make it 3-0, Simmons followed with a double that scored Rios and Nett came in on a sacrifice fly by Dewitt which pushed their lead to 7-0.
Henry added three more runs in the top of the sixth as Rios, Sydney Newton and Dewitt would all score to round out the scoring.
Leading 10-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth the Patriots were looking to preserve their shutout. However, the Centurions were able to finally break through against H. Jenks as they scored a couple of runs to make it 10-2.
Despite a couple of baserunners in the bottom of the seventh, Jenks retired the Centurions to end the game.
In the complete-game victory, Jenks gave up 2 runs on 6 hits while walking 1 and striking out 8 on the day.
CITY-EASTERN LEAGUE
CHRISTIAN 7, MIRA MESA 6
The Patriots rallied late to score four runs over the sixth and seventh innings to snag the victory over the visiting Marauders.
Christian put the first runs on the board in the bottom of the first inning as Lauren Sherburne (2-4, 2R, 2B) led off with double, she came around to score on a double by Silent Rain Espinoza (3-3, R, 4 RBI, 2B) who also would score to make it 2-0.
Mira Mesa cut into the Patriots lead with a run in the top of the third inning to cut the deficit 2-1.
The Marauders would extend their lead as they pushed across five more runs over the fourth and fifth innings to take a 6-2 lead.
Christian scratched a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning as Devyn Krystek (2-3, 2R, RBI, HR) singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Espinoza to cut the deficit in half 6-3.
The Patriots would pull within 6-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning as Shannon McMahon (RBI) would drive in Audrey Shebloski (1-3, 2B, R) who had doubled and Krystek would jack a solo bomb to finish the scoring.
After shutting down Mira Mesa in the top of the seventh the Patriots knew they were down to their outs and had to do something only trailing by one run Things started well for the Patriots as Mallory Steele walked to lead off, Sherburne reached on an error. With two runners on and no outs up came Espinoza who took the 2-1 offering and roped a double that scored both Steele and Sherburne to give the Patriots the walk-off victory.
Getting the win for the Patriots was Ashley Carter who in and pitched 3 innings of relief giving up 3 runs on 5 hits while walking 1.
