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Lady Cougars Top Ripon, Fall To Patterson
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Riding high after a 9-0 shutout win at Ripon on Tuesday, Escalon's varsity Lady Cougars came back to earth in a heartbreaking 5-0 loss to Patterson at home on Thursday.

They rapped out nine hits and held Ripon to just three on Tuesday, walking off with the easy victory.

"In the first inning, Melissa Nickas and Mandy San Julian walked, Shannon Krein hit a double for two RBIs," said coach Dianne Teixeira. "Then Nicky Brown hit one hard to short, it was a ground out but the run scored."

Three more runs crossed the plate for Escalon in the fourth inning and three in the sixth. Nickas and San Julian each doubled in the fourth, Nickas driving in a pair of runs and San Julian driving in one.

It was Nickas again in the sixth, providing the firepower with a two-run homer over the fence after Amanda Ainsworth reached on a walk. Missy Cullum singled after the Nickas homer and stole second, moved to third on a Krein single and scored on a wild pitch.

Brown went the distance on the mound and controlled the Ripon hitters, striking out 10 while allowing just three hits.

At home on Thursday, hosting nemesis Patterson, the Lady Cougars and visiting Tigers battled through three scoreless innings before the visitors broke it open with a five-run fourth.

"Our seniors really stepped it up, showed a lot of leadership," Teixeira pointed out. "It's too bad we had one bad inning, once the errors started, it just kept going."

Six errors plagued the host Lady Cougars, Patterson capitalizing on the miscues to score all five runs in the fourth inning.

"We held them the rest of the way, it just shows you that you can't make mistakes," Teixeira said.

Only two of the Patterson runs were earned. Escalon was held to just three hits, Krein, Brown and Wood all getting on with singles.

"We'll get 'em at their place," Teixeira vowed of meeting the Tigers later this season.

The girls are off this week for spring break, then hit the road for their next two Trans-Valley League games, playing at Riverbank on Tuesday, April 20 and at Hughson on Thursday, April 22.

By MARG JACKSON