San Marcos softball’s offense woke up late and Lucy Dessert twirled her second straight complete game to lift San Marcos softball to a 7-4 win over Ventura High on Friday in Santa Barbara.
The Royals (8-4, 4-2 Channel League) scored four runs in the fifth and sixth innings and Dessert struck out 10 batters to complete the series sweep of the Cougars (5-6, 0-4 CL). San Marcos is now in fourth place in the Channel League ahead of fifth-place Ventura.
“We have a smaller roster, but we really do call on each girl every single day and every single game,” San Marcos head coach Emily Dietz said. “Our girls take a lot of pride in that. They might not be in the starting lineup, but they know they’re going to have an opportunity to come in at some really big times.”
The first two frames went scoreless, as San Marcos starter Lucy Dessert and Ventura’s Jessie Sebek kept their opposition off the board.
The Cougars broke the tie in the third as Khloe Flores blasted a solo home run over the left-field wall to make it 1-0. Ventura doubled that lead to 2-0 in the top of the fourth, scoring on a pair of San Marcos errors in the inning.
The Royals got that run back in the bottom half as Reese Large led off with a double and came around to score on an RBI single off the bat of Caroline Wang.
After Dessert stranded two runners in scoring position in the fifth, the San Marcos offense stayed hot in the bottom half. The Royals loaded the bases for Reese Large, who roped a two-run single down the left-field line to give her team its first lead of the day at 3-2.
“To have Reese step up and know she was seeing the ball well and put a good swing on it was huge,” Dietz said. “Our lineup has changed a lot, and we have been figuring things out, but with all our girls in our lineup having the ability, we know that anybody can do the job for us.”
Dessert, the next batter, then gave herself an insurance run with an RBI groundout to bring the lead to 4-2 heading into the sixth.
In the top of the sixth, Dessert struck out a pair of runs and stranded a runner on third to preserve the two-run lead. The right-hander came through in the clutch several times in the win, leaving runners in scoring position in five different innings.
“This whole season [Dessert] has stepped up huge for us. She’s always been our go-to and I think she’s always loved being in that position,” Dietz said. “She has really been coming into her own, trusting her pitches and not forcing things too much.
“I think her and coach Tony (Sandoval) have a really good relationship now and have an understanding of what pitches are working and when to call them… To keep a pretty good hitting team that off-balance for that many times through the lineup says a lot.”
The offense went right back to work, getting runners on first and second with one out on an error and a walk. Jess Vega then moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt.
Solana Sandoval then came through with a two-run single into right-center field to give her team more of a cushion at 6-2 with one inning to play.
“I think it starts with Jess in the nine spot. She’s been struggling a little bit in her at-bats and we were giving her an opportunity today to help move some runners over and she really executed her bunts,” Dietz said of Vega, who also had a sac bunt in the fifth.
“Without those, we don’t score at least three runs. To have that at the bottom of our lineup and knowing we have Reese, Solana and bigger hitters coming up is great.”
Those two runs proved to be crucial, as Ventura belted back-to-back solo homers in the top of the seventh to trim the deficit to 6-4. The next two batters reached and advanced to second and third with one out.
However, as she did all game, Dessert buckled down when her team needed it most. She struck out the next batter looking and induced a fly ball into center field to put the finishing touches on the complete game, her second straight against the Cougars.
“I was really focusing on not giving up any walks, which has been a struggle for me in the past,” Dessert said. “I was just trying to hit my spots the best I could to help my teammates get easy ground balls and easy pop flies.”
Sandoval and Large led the San Marcos attack, each going 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Meanwhile, Autumn Johnson went 2-for-2 with a pair of runs scored.
The Royals will look to keep it rolling with a tough series against crosstown rival Dos Pueblos next week. They will square off at San Marcos on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
“With the sweep, the vibes are up and everything’s feeling better,” Dessert said of the team’s momentum.