Dos Pueblos softball set the tone with a six-run first inning and never looked back en route to a 7-3 crosstown win over San Marcos on Friday.
The Chargers improved to 3-1 in Channel League play with the win after beginning the season with a record of 1-6. Meanwhile, the Royals dropped to 3-6 overall and 0-4 in league action.
“We had a really tough preseason schedule and we got beat up a lot and at times it was tough for the girls to keep their morale up, but we knew if we played that schedule we would be ready once we got to league and right now we’re ready,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said.
Despite the tough start to league play, San Marcos head coach Emily Dietz believes her team has a shot to turn it around in the coming weeks.
“I still don’t think we’ve played our best softball yet so that is a positive going forward into the second half of the season,” Dietz said. “This league is super tough and it’s very evenly matched.
“Every game is a must-win and we have to buckle down a little earlier and just keep fighting.”
Junior Anastasia Brunner wasted no time putting her Chargers on the board, blasting the first pitch of the game over the left-center field wall for a 1-0 lead.
“It was very important for us to set the tone early,” Gerken said. “We’ve been playing from behind a lot this year so to get on the board on the very first pitch was really, really important.”
Dos Pueblos kept the rally going and scored its second run of the frame on a bases-loaded walk by sophomore Brooklyn Hedricks.
Following a pop-out, freshman Vereniki Maniadis hammered a line-drive grand slam to left field to balloon the lead to 6-0.
“Vereniki has been hitting the ball really hard all year and it was only a matter of time before she hit a home run,” Gerken said. “I was really happy that she picked the time with the bases loaded to do it… Great memory for her and a great experience for a freshman’s first home run.”
Both offenses then went quiet as Dos Pueblos senior Kaitlyn Ashby cruised through the opening frames and San Marcos sophomore Lucy Dessert settled in.
The Chargers threatened with runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth, but Dessert worked out of the jam without a scratch.
Dessert maneuvered her way out of several jams throughout the game, keeping Dos Pueblos scoreless after it had two baserunners in three different innings.
“Lucy gets stronger as the game progresses, some of her pitches just weren’t working for her today and we just had to adjust and see what was,” Dietz said. “She was able to get it done (in jams).”
The Royals then started a rally of their own in the bottom half of the fourth with back-to-back singles from junior Solana Sandoval and sophomore Isa Malarkey.
Junior Reese Large then came through with the big swing, roping a three-run homer to left to cut the deficit in half to 6-3.
“Reese Large has wanted nothing more during her time at San Marcos than to contribute on varsity and she’s stepping into such a huge role offensively and defensively,” Dietz said.
“Getting that one today in a really big spot brought some life back into us, I wouldn’t want it for anybody else on the team.”
Ashby got out of the inning with just the three runs allowed and the Chargers then got a run back in the top of the fifth on an RBI sacrifice fly by junior Aubrey Carreno to score freshman Juliana Brunner.
Dessert and Ashby went right back to work in the final 2 ½ innings of play, holding the opposing offenses scoreless to give Dos Pueblos the 7-3 victory.
Ashby tossed all seven innings for the Chargers while allowing just five hits, all of which came in the fourth inning.
“[Ashby] has been getting stronger all year long and we kind of had this game on our schedule as the target date for her to be pitching her best and she’s gotten there,” Gerken said.
“Her offspeed stuff was really effective today and we got a lot of people on their front foot which made things easy on our defense.”
Dos Pueblos and San Marcos will now head into Spring Break before the second half of Channel League action. The two teams will meet again on Wednesday, April 16.
“It’s been a battle the last couple of years and we were fortunate to get this one today, and we’ll play in another month and it’s going to be another fun one,” Gerken said.
“They’ve been playing against these girls since they were 8 years old and that kind of heightens it a little bit… They enjoy it and I know San Marcos enjoys it.”