Late Game Heroics Help Eagles Stay on Top in GVC Softball

Tied for first place in a still-tightly-packed Golden Valley Conference with one week to go, the Eagle softball team is scheduled to play four home games this week: two against Shasta Wednesday afternoon and two against Feather River Saturday, which is Sophomore Day.

The Eagles have come from behind in the 7th inning of their last three games, twice to win and once to tie. They scored 5 runs in the bottom of the 7th in their last home game to claim an emotional 10-9 victory and earn a split with Yuba last week. Playing at defending champion Butte Friday, the Eagles scored 7 runs in the top of the 7th to win the opener, 9-4, then forced extra innings with two 7th inning runs in the nightcap, which they lost in the first extra inning, 8-7.

Saturday's scheduled doubleheader at Lassen was postponed because of weather and will be made up next Tuesday.

Siskiyous and Yuba were tied for first place at 9-5 to start the final week, while Feather River and Redwoods were both 8-6, Mendocino 6-6, Butte 5-7, Lassen 4-8, and Shasta 3-9.

The Eagles started the season winning just 2 of their first 17 games, but coach Jon Cox believes "our tough pre-season schedule and being on the road has made us better." They've been the top hitting team in GVC play and have showed they can come through in the clutch.

They led game two against Yuba 5-4 until Aaliyah Tinoco, the top home run hitter in conference, crushed a grand slam in the top of the sixth. Yuba added another run in the 7th to make it 9-5, but the inning ended when Eagle centerfielder Navaeh Harry threw a strike to catcher Abigail Wolf, who made the tag at home plate for the third out.

Harry then led off the bottom of the seventh with a walk. She was the first of eight consecutive Eagle batters who contributed to the rally, and the emotion grew like interest in a Super Lotto winner's bank account as each one did their job. Harry scored on Maddalyn Fullenwider's double. Shelby Flournoy pinch ran for Fullenwider, Moriah Hoshowski walked, and the runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Yuba changed pitchers with a 2-0 count on Grace Hubbard, who had needed a time out two innings earlier to shake off the pain of a collision while sliding into second base. It was all good when Hubbard lined a two-run double that traveled directly toward her family watching from the leftfield corner. That cut the deficit to 9-8.

Hubbard slid home to tie the score when Samantha Ray reached base on an infield error. A sacrifice bunt by Kaitlin Estes, the eventual winning pitcher, advanced Ray to second, and Ray reached third on a bunt single by Wolf. There was still only one out when leadoff hitter Emma Murphy came to the plate and returning all-conference player Shyla Mead was on deck. Murphy had already singled and tripled in the game, and she set off a joyous celebration with a ground ball single up the middle.

Cox said he was "still recovering" the next morning. "When you have games like that, it's one in a thousand that you'll win against a good team and with all that was at stake: a chance to retain first place. And after giving up that grand slam, we were left for dead. But I think it does wonders for your team, later in the season, to win a game like that. It gives you a spark, a little bit of a jump, to know you've still got enough gas in the tank. It was great."

Cox used every player on his roster in the game. "We used three DPs, trying to mix hitters with the pitching. Yuba's velocity was not as high as we've seen, and we've actually struggled with lower velocity… Kanalei Brasch from Mount Shasta, even though she made an out, she gave us a spark. Shay Totten from Grants Pass had a key walk, then I re-entered Shelby Flournoy from Corning, who had hurt her wrist earlier and couldn't hit. She made that hook slide into third base." Kylie Kendall also hit in the DP spot.

Megan Allen pitched the first 5 innings, gave up just 2 earned runs, and turned it over to Abigael Marines with the Eagles leading 5-4. Marines has been the best Eagles pitcher this season and has a 6-1 record in conference. Her only GVC loss was game one that day against Yuba, when Marines pitched all 7 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 9 hits with 4 strikeouts and a walk. She was replaced by Estes after the game two grand slam, and Estes pitched the final inning and a-third.

"Good teams find a way to win," Cox said. "Sometimes they get lucky and take advantage of it, but individuals have to win battles with pitchers. It's one of those things where teams that are in position to win a conference championship, you can pinpoint a game that could be the game that makes the difference."

The Eagles had moved back into sole possession of first place when they swept Mendocino in Ukiah April 6. After those wins, Cox said, "I think the girls recognized that we've got something special here. Then we went to Cabrillo on Monday, and they are ranked 8th in NorCal and in the top 20 in the state. We lost the second game 5-3 and played really well, especially in the last five innings. I tell our players, 'You can do it, just believe in yourself and your teammates.'"

Looking ahead to the final six games: Shasta has been struggling in conference, but still wasn't completely out of the GVC race as the week began. Feather River had won 4 in a row and is typically a challenging conference foe. Lassen had lost 7 in a row after a 4-1 start in league.

The sophomores to be recognized before the start of Saturday's first game are: pitcher Kaitlin Estes of Burney; shortstop Shyla Mead of Roseburg, OR; infielder Samantha Ray of Ontario, OR; catcher Abigail Wolf of Colusa; outfielder Moriah Hoshowski of Roseburg, OR; pitcher Abigael Marines of Reno, NV; and infielder Maddalyn Fullenwider of Medford, OR.

By Steve Gerace