GALL, MULLIGAN, HICKS LEAD VAQUEROS TO WIN
- Updated: June 8, 2021
2021 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL
CIF DIVISION II PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND
El Capitan 17, Mission Bay 7
By Adam Paul
LAKESIDE – In what looked like early on a blowout victory for the El Capitan Vaqueros would become a close game before they scored enough runs to win by run-rule in six innings on Tuesday (June 8) afternoon.
El Capitan (17-6) would take an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Ava Gall (3-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR) knocked in Hailey Mulligan (1-3, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR) with a base hit to center field.
They would add a second run in the bottom of the second inning when Alyssa Fierro (2 R) laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that allowed Katy Hicks (2-3, 2 R, 3 RBI) to race home for the run to make it 2-0.
More of the same in the bottom of the third inning when Gall scored on a ground ball out by Brooklyn Fukushima (1-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) to give them a 3-0 lead.
Mission Bay (9-10) would finally get on the board with a run to cut the deficit to 3-1 in the top of the sixth inning when a run scored via a walk.
But the Vaqueros answered back in the bottom of the inning when Gall blasted a two-run homer over the center-field fence scoring Alexis McDaniel (1-4, 2 R, 2B) to give them a 5-1 lead. Later in the inning, the Vaqueros would extend the lead even further when Hicks singled to right scoring both Dayla McAuliffe (1-4, R, 2 RBI) and Fukushima to make it 7-1, and later Hailey Mulligan would blast a three-run homer over the center-field fence to give them a 10-1 lead.
CIF Home run today 🥳 @michaellew10 @CoachJVW @DukeCoachYoung @btholl @CoachFarler @CoachJess_ @CoachFarler @jess_bracamonte @JustinShults33 @J_Cottrill_ @OSUcoachG @ShaneWinkler pic.twitter.com/nOKlrZhmZh
— Ava Gall (@AvaGall51) June 9, 2021
However, the Buccaneers wouldn’t go down without a fight and thanks to multiple base hits would push across a run followed by a three-run triple which was followed by a double and a run-scoring base hit to pull them within 10-7.
Despite having the momentum taken away the Vaqueros would press on and in the bottom of the inning and would answer back.
The scoring started when Hicks singled in Fukushima to make it 11-7, she would later score on a base hit and another run would score along with Fierro scoring on a wild pitch. The Vaqueros had upped their lead to 14-7.
After a couple of errors and Gall being hit by a pitch, McAuliffe came to the plate and drove in a pair of runs to extend the lead to 16-7, Fukushima would drive in Gall to round out the scoring and end the game due to the ten-run rule.
With the win, the Vaqueros will travel tomorrow down to the South Bay where they will take on two-seeded Otay Ranch in the First Round of the double-elimination portion of the playoffs. Meanwhile with the loss Mission Bay is officially eliminated and their season ends.
