On a chilly Wednesday afternoon in Saratoga on March 5, the Wilcox Chargers warmed up the bats to the tune of six runs off Falcons’ pitchers.
Makaila Butler headlined the offensive attack for the Chargers by launching the first home run of her high school career. But Butler wasn’t the only Charger making loud contact. Samatha Bianchi and Tyler Scott both demonstrated opposite-field pop from the right side.
Bianchi launched a high triple to the right-field wall and then scored on an error to tie the game 3-3 in the third. Scott hammered a line-drive shot that one hopped the wall in right in the seventh.
Emma Salinas hammered a line drive over the center fielder’s head in the fourth and later launched a double to left-center field in the sixth.
Yazmin Amin picked up a game-tying RBI single to make the score 6-6 in the sixth. Lauren Rodriguez and Brooke Rivera also put together quality at bats throughout the game.
Put more concisely, the Chargers offense received lots of contributions up and down the lineup. It also received quality pitching from Rivera and Rodriguez.
Rivera started the game and pitched four solid innings. While she left the circle having allowed six runs, the first three came in a first inning where nobody on the Falcons hit the ball hard.
Troublesome defense behind her and bloop singles led to the three runs. Another run that came against Rivera was actually an awesome, should-have-been tag out at the plate on a fantastic relay—left fielder Bianchi to third-baseman Scott to catcher Emma Salinas. The tag clearly got the runner’s foot before reaching the plate. Unfortunately, the home plate umpire was in a poor position up the third-base line and got the call wrong.
Despite the poor luck, the Chargers hung tough and were tied going into the last of the seventh.
Unfortunately for Wilcox supporters, Saratoga would squeak home the winning run on an error.
After the Falcons loaded the bases with nobody out, Rodriguez did an impeccable job of striking out the next two batters. The junior nearly came up with the remarkable Houdini act as she induced a ground ball, but a final bad bounce saw the ball sneak into the outfield to give the Falcons a 7-6 walk-off victory.
“I think we did pretty well with the bats,” chimed Scott after the loss. “It took us a little while to get them warmed up, but once we got one hit, we kept going and going.”
That one hit was Butler’s home run to left field that got the Chargers on the board in a flash.
“We were all so proud of her; it was the perfect time for it; got a rally started,” beamed Bianchi on her teammate’s first-ever homer. “It definitely changed the momentum of the game at that point.”
From the second through the sixth inning there were nine runs scored in this game, six of them by the Chargers.
“When we’re on, we’re on,” remarked Rodriguez regarding the bats. “I think that we can do a really good job of applying pressure on opposing defenses. We just need to have a little better situational hitting with runners on base.”
“We just got to trust each other; we are working within a little bit of a new system,” noted Chargers Head Coach John Butler. “At the end of the day, a little more emphasis on trusting that the other player is going to be there and be able to make the play.”
Related Posts:
Chargers Power Up in Support of Freshman Ace
Wilcox Softball With Impressive Win over Homestead