San Marcos softball earned a 6-4 Channel League victory over Buena on Tuesday in Ventura.
Lucy Dessert tossed a complete game in the circle, striking out a season-high 10 batters while allowing three earned runs in seven innings.
After the first two innings went scoreless, the Royals piled on four runs in the top of the third with run-scoring doubles by Reese Large and Giana Mandarino along with a Bulldog error.
San Marcos added on another run in the fourth on an RBI double off the bat of Isa Malarkey.
Buena responded with three runs in the fourth and one in the fifth to cut the lead down to 5-4, but Dessert dug deep and tossed two scoreless innings to hold off the Bulldogs and pull out the win.
The Royals rounded out the scoring in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Mandarino.
Malarkey led the San Marcos offensive attack by going 3-for-4 with one RBI and two runs scored. Large and Mandarino each had two hits and drove in two runs apiece.
“All three of [Malarkey, Large and Mandarino] did a good job on their approach being patient and letting the ball travel,” Royals head coach Emily Dietz said.
San Marcos (11-13, 5-8 Channel League) will host Buena for a rematch on Friday at 3:30 p.m. The Royals will celebrate Senior Day in a pregame ceremony.
Ventura 13, Dos Pueblos 9
The Chargers dropped a slugfest with the Cougars on Tuesday in Ventura.
“We felt good coming into this game, but sometimes it’s tough to contend with senior day,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said. “Ventura’s energy was high and after they hit the homer in the first, we knew it was going to be a tough day. Still, we showed a lot of resilience.”
Dos Pueblos (10-14, 8-5 Channel League) started strong with a pair of runs in the top of the first on a fielder’s choice and an RBI single by Kaitlyn Ashby.
However, Ventura came out even stronger with six runs in the bottom half to immediately take the momentum of the game.
The Chargers plated one run in the second thanks to an RBI triple by Zella Cassidy, but the Cougars scored twice in both the second and third innings to build their lead out to 10-3.
The Dos Pueblos offense erupted for five runs in the fourth inning thanks to run-scoring hits by Ashby, Juliana Brunner and Veriniki Maniadi to cut the deficit to 10-8.
Ventura responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend its lead out to 12-8.
Ashby blasted a solo homer in the sixth to complete a 3-for-4 performance, but the Cougars scored once again in the bottom half and closed out the 13-9 win in the seventh.
While Ashby’s three hits led Dos Pueblos’ 11-hit performance, Cassidy and Brunner tallied two hits apiece
“I’m proud of Kaitlyn Ashby’s day at the plate and the intensity Zella Cassidy showed in the batter’s box today. She played with a lot of heart today,” Gerken said.
“Juliana Brunner had a great performance in the circle in relief of Kaitlyn to slow them down a bit. We look forward to a rematch on our Senior Day Friday.”
Pacifica 12, Santa Barbara 3
The Dons dropped their Senior Day matchup with the Tritons on Tuesday in Santa Barbara.
Pacifica provided a consistent dose of offense with runs in the first, second, sixth and seventh innings. They piled on five runs in the seventh to put the finishing touches on the win.
Alina Magdaleno knocked a solo homer and Dayzia Mendoza drove in a run with a double to lead the Santa Barbara High offense.
Meanwhile, Vienna Mochi handled all seven innings in the circle and struck out eight batters.
“The team, the coaches and I had hoped for a different outcome today,” Santa Barbara High head coach Julie Kittle said. “The team did a good job making contact today, unfortunately, not a lot of balls dropped.
“Hats off to Pacifica’s left fielder. She took away a few home runs from us today.”
The Dons and Tritons will cap off the regular season on Friday in Oxnard.