East County Sports

Henry collects share of Western crown

2022 EAST COUNTY PREP SOFTBALL

 

By Adam Paul

SCRIPPS RANCH (5-13-22) – Behind an 11-hit attack, the Patrick Henry Patriots were able to claim a 6-1 road victory over the Scripps Ranch Falcons in Western League action.

Henry starter Zoe Rutherford went the distance as she fanned five Falcons on the day only allowing one run on five hits to pick up the crucial victory, giving the school a share of the Western League championship with Mission Bay.

Offensively the Patriots were able to jump on the Falcons early as they scored three runs in the top of the first inning. As usual, the spark at the top of the lineup set the table as Kaiah Altmeyer (1-3, R RBI, SB) walked, she would later come into score on a ground ball out by Savannah Sutton (1-4, RBI) to make it 1-0.

With one out and Malia Savage (2-4, R, RBI, 2B) on base after she advanced on the ground out the following batter Olivia Gigante (2-3, R, 2 RBI, HR) came up and clubbed a two-run blast over the right-field fence of which was her ninth of the season.

Leading 3-0 the Patriots had all the momentum but the Falcons wouldn’t go down without a little fight and were able to finally able to get on the board in the bottom of the third inning when leadoff hitter Dominique Hernandez hit a solo home run over the center-field fence to pull them within 3-1.

However, the Patriots took back all the momentum as Altmeyer drove in Maura Evans (RUN) on a single to left field in the top of the fourth inning to give them a 4-1 lead. They would go on to add runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. Those runs would come courtesy of an RBI ground out by Leila Ludwig (1-4, RBI) that allowed Izzy Ervin (RUN) to score in the top of the fifth, and in the sixth inning, Savage doubled in Jenna Mallari (2-3, R).

The five-run lead was all Rutherford would need as she finished off the falcons over the final two innings only allowing a pair of runners to get on base as she ended the game with a ground ball out to Savage at short who threw it to Sutton at first for the final out.

The victory for the Patriots was crucial as Mission Bay rallied to score three runs and claim a come from behind 3-2 victory over the University City Centurions. The victory meant with both the Patriots and the Buccaneers winning they finish as Co-Champions of the Western City League.

Patrick Henry now with its latest Co-Championship has now Co-Championed the last three out of four years as the 2020 season was the pandemic season that was cut short. Since the 2010 season, the Patriots have claimed six League championships.

They will now wait and see where they will be seeded in the Division I playoffs as pairings will be announced on Saturday.

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