Eagles, Hillers, Sultans, Vaqs, Monarchs win
- Updated: March 28, 2019
2019 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
East County Sports staff report
EL CAJON (3-28-2019) – The goal for the pitchers from West Hills High was to out-duel Granite Hills standout Staci Chambers.
One could argue that Kimie Brouard and Emma Bentley did do better than that in tossing a combined 3-hitter.
However, two of the Eagles’ hits were home runs by Chambers and Amaya Esparza in taking down the Wolf Pack, 7-3, in Grossmont Hills League action Wednesday (Mar. 27).
West Hills eclipsed a pitchers’ duel with three runs in the 4th inning, but 3rd-ranked Granite Hills quickly countered with seven unanswered runs over the 5th and 6th frames to get even, then pull away in the GHL opener for both ballclubs.
Chambers ignited the comeback. Following a lead walk to Rylee Omahen to open the 5th, Chambers went to right field to register her fifth home run of the season. Two batters later, Esparza lined a game-tying shot to center field.
An inning later, Chambers escaped a bases-loaded situation with a strikeout, then Granite Hills posted four runs to put away the victory — with an “assist” from the Wolf Pack defense after the first three Eagles reached on a walk sandwiched around a pair of errors, as the second boot allowed a pair of go-ahead runs to score.
Later, Chambers lined a drive to the outfield that was dropped, but she still collected her third RBI on a sacrifice fly. Another run would come home on a passed ball.
Chambers would complete her complete-game effort with her 17th strikeout, Chambers (7-1) now has 69 Ks over 45,1 innings this season. Meanwhile, her slugging percentage soared to 1.100 (33 total bases on 30 ABs) after a 3-for-4 outing which included her homer and a double.
The Wolf Pack rally in the 5th started on consecutive lead singles by Sabrina Brown and Star Gaylord, with an error in the outfield allowing Brown to open the scoring.
Alyssa Borbolla stroked a one-out single to place runners on the corners, then a safety squeeze bunt by Emma Bentley was booted for a second run, then yet another error made it 3-0.
For Granite Hills (9-3 overall, 1-0 GHL), Wallace finished with two RBI and a stolen base,
West Hills (5-7, 0-1 GHL) saw leadoff batter Shannon Kim go 3-for-4, while Brown and Gaylord added two hits each.
GROSSMONT 18, VALHALLA 8: At Grossmont, the Hillers’ Aly Allmann registered 7 RBI to establish a new school record, fueling a record-breaking offensive performance by Grossmont in Wednesday’s (Mar. 27) Grossmont Hills League opener.
Allmann, a senior catcher, collected her RBI on a home run and a pair of doubles in the highest-scoring game between the schools this century. The previous high was a wild, 25-run game on Apr. 20, 2012, when the Hillers took a crazy 14-11 decision.
It is also Grossmont’s highest run total against Valhalla during the same time period.
Allmann started quickly in the 1st inning. Following a pair of two-out walks to and Katilina Contreras, Allmann drilled a 3-run homer to center field for a 3-1 lead.
The Hillers would late mount 12 runs in the 3rd by 15 batters to the plate. Allmann batted twice, gaining a single and a 2-run double, then added another 2-run double in the 5th to cap her 4-for-4 performance, scoring all four times.
Meanwhile, Valhalla also had a senior catcher with a strong day at the plate, as Samantha Green also homered to account for two of her three RBI.
Grossmont (8-4 overall, 1-0 GHL) saw Jordan Brown bat 4-for-4 with 4 RBI. while the Hillers received two hits each from Kimmy Bond, Natie Emery and Halle Sweiss as part of a 19-hit attack over four team trips to the plate.
For Valhalla (5-10, 0-1 GHL), shortstop Delaney Stettler registered three hits.
SANTANA 6, STEELE CANYON 5: At Rancho San Diego, the host Cougars registered three runs in the bottom of the 7th inning — the final pair of runs came on an error — with the potential game-tying run on base, However, Sultans pitcher Madison Mendez registered a game-ending strikeout to pace Santana to Wednesday’s (Mar. 27) Grossmont Hills League triumph.
Hailey Justice and Lakaila Aquiningoc-David (3-for-4) each recorded two RBI to mount a 5-1 cushion, but a 6th-inning RBI double by Mendez scored Emmelee Leggett proved important to make it a 6-1 margin.
Mendez finished with seven strikeouts for Santana (5-3 overall, 1-0 GHL).
Steele Canyon (5-7, 0-1 GHL) dropped its third straight despite a pair of doubles by Tayler Thomas.
EL CAPITAN 8, MOUNT MIGUEL 0: At Lakeside, the Vaqueros tallied seven runs through the first two innings, making life easy for winning pitcher Olivia Martinez, who tossed a 5-hit shutout at the Matadors on Wednesday (Mar. 27) in Grossmont Valley League action.
Martinez only struck out two, gaining the majority of her outs on ground balls. At the plate, she also garnered a pair of RBI.
El Cap leadoff batter Brooklynn Fukashima went 2-for-3 with a double and scored twice to jump-start the offense.
The Vaqs moved to 8-4 overall (1-0 GVL) with their fifth straight victory. Mount Miguel fell to 2-4 (0-1 GVL).
MONTE VISTA 19, EL CAJON VALLEY 5: At Spring Valley, half of the Monarchs’ 12 hits went for extra bases, including home runs by Abigail Johnston and Ionna Upham to befuddle the Braves in both ballclub’s Grossmont Valley League opener on Wednesday (Mar. 27).
Johnston batted 4-for-4 with 4 RBI and a pair of runs scored over her team’s four trips to the plate when the game was halted via run rule.
Johnston also doubled, along with Dessire Corona, Meeah Matanane and Mia Owens for Monte Vista (6-3 overall, 1-0 GVL).
For El Cajon Valley (0-5, 0-1 GVL), cleanup hitter Annacelie Torres recorded two hits.
