Dos Pueblos softball earned its first win of the Channel League season with a 13-2 run-rule victory over Pacifica on Tuesday in Goleta.
Kaitlyn Ashby allowed two runs in five innings in the circle for the Chargers and went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer in the win. Meanwhile, Anastasia Brunner and Zella Cassidy each drove in three runs.
“We needed this win today,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said. “We’ve had so many one-run games not go our way, so it was nice to put together some hits and score some runs.
Dos Pueblos wasted no time, scoring two runs in the first on RBI doubles from Kacey Hurley and Brooklyn Hedricks before exploding for four runs and a 6-0 lead in the second, including an RBI for Brunner.
After another Charger run in the third, the Tritons got on the board with a pair of runs in the fourth to cut the deficit to 7-2.
However, Dos Pueblos blew the game open with six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Ashby provided the biggest blow of the rally with her two-run homer to center field.
Cassidy and Esme Mazurkiewicz drove in runs as well, with Mazurkiewicz’s two-RBI single serving as the final blow for the run-rule victory.
“I’m really happy for Kaitlyn for having a breakout game. We know the kind of hitter she can be and she showed it today,” Gerken said. “It was great to see Esme come through with a big hit at the end.”
Dos Pueblos (2-6, 1-1 Channel League) will look to complete the sweep on the road on Friday.
Ventura 3, San Marcos 2 (F/9)
The Royals dropped a back-and-forth affair in extra innings with the Cougars on Tuesday in Santa Barbara.
“I’m proud of the girls for battling and answering back until the end,” San Marcos head coach Emily Dietz said. “We’re in a really tough league and every game is going to be a dog fight, that was clear today.
“We’re really evenly matched with Ventura, they just had some balls drop in places we couldn’t get to and we were hitting it right at people.”
After three scoreless innings to begin the game, Ventura took the lead in the top of the fourth on a run-scoring single. The Royals quickly answered in the bottom of the fourth when Jess Vega roped an RBI triple to tie the game at 1-1.
The next three innings went scoreless thanks to strong pitching from San Marcos’ Lucy Dessert and Ventura’s Jessie Sebek. Dessert went all nine innings for the Royals, allowing three runs and striking out six.
The San Marcos defense also made several key plays, including an 8-3 putout from Vega in center field after what seemed to be a single up the middle.
“I’ve never seen that ever happen in a high school softball game,” Dietz said of the play. “The mental wherewithal Jess had to come up throwing, and the stretch Reese Large made to make that play was incredible.”
Ventura pushed across a run in the top of the eighth, but once again San Marcos responded in the bottom half when Solana Sandoval drove home Kayla Aguilar on a double to right field to make it 2-2.
The Cougars took the lead for good in the top of the ninth, shutting down the Royals in the bottom half to earn the win.
San Marcos and Ventura are scheduled for a rematch in Ventura on Friday, pending rain.