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Softball Girls See Mixed Results On Diamond
BABASA
Freshman Malia Babasa puts down a bunt in Thursday afternoon action against Riverbank, reaching base on the bunt base hit. The host Lady Cougars shut out the visiting Lady Bruins in the Trans-Valley League opener. Marg Jackson/The Times

In between rainstorms this week, Escalon’s softball girls did get on the diamond.

The varsity squad had a non-league loss and opened up Trans-Valley League action with a victory.

On Monday, March 12, the girls traveled to Los Banos and were shut out by Pacheco, 4-0.

“Bella (Strach) was in the circle, she got the start and she did a good job,” said head coach Art Brooks.

The host team did touch her up for a two-run homer in the first inning and they also put two runs on the board in the third inning.

“With our offense being quiet, that’s all it took,” Brooks said of Pacheco winning with the four-run afternoon.

Strach scattered five hits and walked three. For Escalon at the plate, Chardae Hoskins went 3-for-3 and had two doubles, while Hannah Boyd also notched a hit.

Skies were threatening, the wind was blustery, and a few scattered drops of rain fell but the Thursday afternoon, March 15 league opener against Riverbank did get on the books. Escalon hosted the Lady Bruins and shut them out by a 9-0 final.

Four runs in the third and five runs in the sixth provided the margin of victory for the Lady Cougars in the Trans-Valley League win.

“Our offense woke up a little bit,” Brooks said.

Key hit in the contest was a grand slam by Molly Brown that accounted for four of the five runs in the sixth.

Hoskins had another solid game in the circle; she allowed just one hit to Riverbank for the contest and struck out 16, frustrating the Lady Bruins at the plate.

Offensively, she was 3-for-4 with a double, Hailie Webster was 2-for-2, Brown was 1-for-4 with the grand slam and several players also contributed with one hit each: Morgan Reider, Kayla Kemp, Sage Davis, Priscilla Davis and Boyd.

This week, the girls were scheduled to play at Ripon on Tuesday, March 20 after The Times went to press and, weather permitting, have games scheduled later in the week. They will travel to Mountain House on Thursday, March 22 for a league game and then have a non-league game against Ceres set for Friday, March 23 at 4 p.m.

 

JUNIOR VARSITY

It was a non-league win for the young Lady Cougars on Monday, going on the road for an 18-5 decision against Pacheco in Los Banos. Despite the wide margin of victory, first-year head coach Jordon Costa said it was not a good overall game, as she felt her team played down to Pacheco and didn’t display hustle in the field or on the base paths.

She plans to make sure the team gets that corrected this week, as they look to begin Trans-Valley League action.