Putting a win on the books at home Tuesday against Pacheco, the varsity Lady Cougars softball team then headed to the NorCal Tournament for Thursday and Friday games.
They started out strong with a 4-1 win over Pacheco on March 29, with Chardae Hoskins getting the win, striking out 10, allowing one hit and four walks. Haylie Corriea went 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles to lead the offensive charge, while Cindy DeFreitas was 2-for-2 with two runs driven in. Hailie Webster and Natalie Arnold added hits in the win.
The girls went to West High School in Tracy for games in the NorCal Tournament and began Thursday’s action with a strong 7-0 win over Johansen.
“Chardae got the win, she had a no hitter,” said head coach Art Brooks. “She had nine strikeouts and allowed one walk.”
Corriea had another solid day at the plate, 3-for-3 with a double and Molly Brown chipped in with a 2-for-3 showing with three RBIs. Notching hits were Hoskins, Arnold, DeFreitas, Laura Brasil and Nicole Luis.
“Then we hit a rough spot, we lost three in a row,” Brooks said.
The girls fell in a close 5-4 decision to Buhach Colony, 4-2 to Mariposa and closed out the NorCal appearance with a 12-6 loss to Pitman. Against Buhach, Molly Brown took the loss, pitching well but not getting quite enough support.
“We came out a little flat,” Brooks admitted.
Hoskins was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI with Corriea and Morgan Reider notching hits.
In the 4-2 loss to Mariposa, it was again Brown in the circle.
“Molly did a good job, the team just didn’t get it done behind her,” explained Brooks.
Arnold was 2-for-3, Hoskins and Corriea each had a hit.
Closing out tourney play with Pitman, Hoskins got the start and Brown came on in relief. Hoskins was 2-for-3, Corriea went 2-for-4, with hits apiece from Brown, Webster, DeFreitas and Emily Avalos.
Despite the three-game skid, the Lady Cougars have compiled a 12-4 record in the preseason. Now, they prepare for the start of Trans-Valley League play, opening up with Riverbank on Friday, April 8.
“We’ve done really well,” Brooks said of the pre-season campaign overall. “We have things to work on, we’ve got a good week of practice ahead of us … we will be ready.”
Junior Varsity
It was a busy week for the young Lady Cougars as well, with a huge win over Pacheco to start the action and a 3-1 showing in the NorCal event. The loss to Pitman was the first of the season for the JV team.
They opened up with a 36-0 blowout of Pacheco, scoring 15 runs in the first inning, seven in the second and 14 in the third on the way to winning the run-shortened game.
Then it was off to Tracy for the tournament, opening up with an 11-2 win over Mariposa County, keyed by a five-run fourth inning. They then crafted a 3-1 win over Los Banos. Friday action saw the girls lose a 4-2 contest to Pitman, with an 8 a.m. start time, their first loss this season. They were able to bounce back, however, with an 11-4 win over Enochs in a 9:30 a.m. game, with no time to think about the loss. Enochs had three runs in the first while Escalon countered with all 11 of their runs crossing the plate in that frame. Enochs added one more in the third but couldn’t get any closer, as the JV team held them off for the win.
They will host Beyer in a non-league game Thursday, April 7 at 4 p.m. and then take on Hughson to open up their Trans-Valley League schedule on Wednesday, April 13.
