It took awhile for Fullerton to get its offense going against El Rancho Thursday afternoon. But once they got going, they kept rolling, as the Indians rolled passed the Dons 10-3 in the Coach Takk Classic being played at Fullerton High School.
Alexia Silvas pitched 4 innings for the Indians and got the win for Fullerton, while El Rancho’s starting pitcher Bri Larez was credited with the loss. Fullerton (5-4) scored its 10 runs on 9 hits and committed one error; El Rancho scored its 3 runs on 4 hits and committed one error as well.
Fullerton was the away team for this game, and Larez was able to finish the top of the Indian’s lineup in 7 pitches after giving up a single to Kristin Smith. Silvas retired the first 3 Don batters in 10 pitches, ending a very quick first inning.
El Rancho got the game’s first runner in scoring position in the bottom of the second, as junior Aiyana Mendoza hit a double to right field. On the following at bat, Vicky Najera hit a fly ball out to the right foul territory, and Mendoza tagged up on the play. However, right fielder Brittney Vargas threw the ball to second baseman Mayra Encinas and the umpire declared that Mendoza had left before Vargas caught the ball, and was therefore out to end the inning.
In the top of the third, facing two outs, Alexis Silvas hit a groundball, but El Rancho’s first baseman Steph Porras dropped the catch and Silvas was safe. That proved to be costly for the Dons, as a double by Alyssa Brundage and a RBI single by Kristin Smith gave the Indians the first run of the game. On the following at bat, Kloee Scott hit a 2-run RBI single to extend the Indians lead to 3-0.
In the top of the fourth, Alyssa Brundage hit a 3-run home run to center field to give Fullerton a 6-0 lead.
The Dons were able to get on the board in the bottom half of the inning, after Dominique Jimenez grounded out with the bases loaded. Aiyana Mendoza then hit into a sacrifice fly to bring in Leilani Larez and cut the deficit to 4. Vicky Najera was able to cut the lead in half in the next at bat with a RBI single to center, but was caught trying to advance to second base to end the inning. In the top of the fifth, Alexis Zacarias replaced Larez on the mound for the Dons. Larez finished the day throwing 68 pitches and giving up 3 earned runs.
A scary moment happened in the top of fifth, as Fullerton junior Sarah Powell seemed to have injured her head when attempting to slide back to first base after a throw from catcher Vicky Najera.
Powell stayed on her knees for quite some time before a trainer took her to the locker room for evaluation. She returned to Fullerton’s bench later on with a bag of ice to her chin.
After Powell’s injury, the next two Indian batters got on base to load the bases. Brundage was then walked on 4 straight balls to add to Fullerton’s lead and add her fourth RBI of the game. Rebecca Tell hit a 2-run single after Brundage’s walk to make the lead 9-3. Two batters later, Maren Summers was walked with the bases loaded to make it 10-3 Fullerton going into the bottom of the fifth.
Kloee Scott came in for Silvas for Fullerton, as Silvas ended her day with 3 strikeouts and giving up only 3 hits.
After giving up an opening double, Scott was able to put away El Rancho to end the inning. The game was then called due to it reaching the time limit, giving the Indians the win in 5 innings.
The Indians will be back in action on Friday, as they will take on in city rival Rosary in another game of the Coach Takk Classic.
