San Marcos softball cruised to a 16-6 mercy-rule victory over Buena to open Channel League play on Tuesday in Santa Barbara.
“Overall, it was a great start to league, and we were able to see a little bit of everything,” San Marcos head coach Emily Dietz said. “Offensively, I think our team did a good job of staying disciplined and attacking the pitches thrown at them.
“The middle of our lineup was pretty much perfect for quality at-bats and that’s what you want to see as we get into league competition.”
The Royals (4-2, 1-0 Channel League) scored in all four innings that they took the plate, beginning with two runs in the first before erupting for eight runs in the second to race out to a 10-0 lead.
Buena responded with six runs in the top of the third, five of which were unearned. However, San Marcos kept its foot on the gas pedal offensively with four runs in the bottom half and two more in the fourth to put the finishing touches on the win.
“The game got away from us a little bit in the third, but we were able to regain focus and answer back with some runs in the bottom of the inning to regain control of the game,” Dietz said.
Dessert handled the pitching duties for the Royals, allowing one earned run on five hits and three walks while striking out five in the five-inning game.
“[Dessert’s] first-pitch strike numbers were up today, which is something we’ve been stressing in practices and games, that’s a great stat to see entering league play,” Dietz said.
Meanwhile, Dessert, Caroline Wang and Dulce Cardona led the San Marcos offense with three RBI apiece. Dessert and Wang each had two hits, while Wang scored twice.
Reese Large and Isa Malarkey also had strong days at the plate, each going 2-for-2 with four runs scored and two walks. Large also drove in a pair of runs.