Dos Pueblos softball suffered its first Channel League loss of the season in a 4-1 defeat at the hands of Rio Mesa on Friday in Oxnard.
The Chargers (16-5, 8-1 Channel League) are now one game ahead of the Spartans (11-13-1, 7-2 CL) in the league standings. The two teams will play again on Monday, May 4 at Okinaka Field in Goleta.
“I knew this was the kind of game we were going to have. I even thought the score would be the same. Unfortunately, we were on the wrong end of it today,” Dos Pueblos head coach Mike Gerken said.
It was a pitchers’ duel between Dos Pueblos’ Emily Morici and Rio Mesa’s Analia Lopez, as the Spartans held onto a slim 1-0 lead after five innings of play. The lone run came on a third-inning solo homer.
The Chargers finally broke through in the top of the sixth when Morici singled home Anastasia Brunner to tie the game at 1-1.
However, Rio Mesa responded with a big three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth and held Dos Pueblos scoreless in the top of the seventh to secure the win.
“I am proud of our girls for coming back to tie it in the 6th. It’s not very easy to string together hits against a pitcher like that when she is on, but we did,” Gerken said.
Morici ended the day with 13 strikeouts and allowed just three hits in her six innings of work. Offensively, Julianna Brunner went 2-for-3 to lead the way.
“Both pitchers were very determined. Emily’s 13 strikeouts were so impressive. Equally impressive was Juliana Brunner’s two hits. She was totally locked in at the plate,” Gerken said.
Dos Pueblos will be on the road against Oxnard on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
Pacifica 5, San Marcos 4
The Royals fell victim to a walk-off by the Tritons on Friday in Oxnard.
After San Marcos battled from behind to take a 4-3 lead in the top of the seventh, Pacifica rallied in the bottom half and secured the win with a walk-off, two-run double.
“We’ve had a lot of close games this year, and even though not all of them have gone our way, we’ve felt good about how we’ve played and proud of how we played,” San Marcos head coach Emily Dietz said. “I just don’t really think we can say that about today.
“Our offense wasn’t anywhere near where we know it can be; we weren’t patient enough at the plate, and we left a lot of runners on the bases. Defensively, we had a few misplays and calls not go our way, and I think that took us out of our rhythm a bit. We let that get us out of our game.”
After the Tritons opened the game with a three-run first inning, the Royals chipped away with a two-run homer by Isa Malarkey in the top of the third and a Sutera Raring RBI single in the fourth to tie it up.
However, it was Pacifica who had the last laugh in the back-and-forth Channel League affair.
“The Channel League truly is so competitive, and anyone can win on any given day,” Dietz said. “This week we’ve seen a lot of upsets in league, and this is just another of those. Hats off to Pacifica, they clearly wanted that league win and were hungry for it.
“The lesson learned today is the difference between expecting to win and wanting to win. I’m confident our team will go into the remainder of the games this season learning from this.”
Malarkey went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI and two runs scored, while Lucy Dessert and Raring also put together 2-for-4 performances.
In the circle, Dessert racked up nine strikeouts and eclipsed the 100-strikeout mark for the season.
San Marcos (13-11, 6-6 Channel League) will be on the road against Foothill Tech for its regular-season finale next Friday.