Starting off the week with a non-league victory over Calaveras, the Escalon varsity softball girls then played four games in the NorCal Tournament hosted by Tracy.
They picked up a win in one of those four, going 2-3 for the week.
Against Calaveras, hosting the Redskins on Tuesday, April 26, the girls found themselves down 3-0 after one but scored two runs in the first and added two more in the third to take a 4-3 lead. Calaveras went up, 5-4, with two runs in the fourth but Escalon answered back with a pair, taking a 6-5 lead. Escalon got a couple insurance runs in the sixth, leading 8-5, and Calaveras was able to score one in the seventh but Escalon closed it out for an 8-6 win.
Ami Hood was 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored; Anastasia Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, a double and three RBI; Lexi Prim went 2-for-4, double, two RBI; Shelise Hatfield, 3-for-4, two RBI; Katie Heflin, 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Marissa Dominguez went the first five innings, Jenessa Costa finished up the last two.
"Calaveras started off with the three but we came back with two and just kept chipping away," explained coach Dianne Teixeira. "They bobbled a couple, we made them defend, we just kept hitting it hard."
On to the NorCal in Tracy, Escalon was one of 64 teams, playing in four different brackets in the major tournament. They were in the Silver bracket and fell in the opener to Los Banos, 4-2, on Thursday, April 28.
"They're a decent school and they're in a WAC title fight right now with Patterson," said Teixeira.
Escalon got its two runs in the first but then couldn't get any more in. Hood singled and stole second, coming in to score on a fly ball deep to right field from Rodriguez that dropped in. Hatfield then doubled in Rodriguez.
Costa got the start on the mound and pitched well, limiting Los Banos to four runs but the Lady Cougar offense couldn't get going.
They played later that same day, taking on Kings Academy of Sunnyvale and won that game, 12-8, with Costa again on the mound. Big hitters were Rodriguez, 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI and Prim, 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
"All the girls were seeing the ball well, we just kept hitting," Teixeira said. "We scored three early to give us a little lead."
On Friday, Costa and Dominguez split the mound duties and the team took a tough loss, 12-2 in five innings, to Deer Valley of Antioch.
"Conditions were windy, but they just hit better than we did," said Teixeira of falling to their opponent.
For Escalon, Rodriguez had a triple and an RBI, Hatfield had an RBI single.
In the final game, the Lady Cougars faced off with LeGrand and were poised to take the win, but gave up five runs in bottom of the seventh to lose it, 9-8.
"We had 'em and they came back," Teixeira said, disappointed the team didn't hang on for the win.
Casey Schmidig paced the team offensively with a 3-for-4 day, single, double, triple and four RBI, while Prim had a triple and an RBI; Rodriguez single, two RBI; Nicole Bianchi, 2-for-4, two runs scored, RBI.
Playing on spring break kept the girls in game shape, and they will be on the field for two in Trans-Valley League play this week. They host Hughson on Wednesday, May 4 at 4 p.m. and travel to Hilmar on Friday, May 6. They wrap up the regular season with a home game on Wednesday, May 11 against Modesto Christian.
They picked up a win in one of those four, going 2-3 for the week.
Against Calaveras, hosting the Redskins on Tuesday, April 26, the girls found themselves down 3-0 after one but scored two runs in the first and added two more in the third to take a 4-3 lead. Calaveras went up, 5-4, with two runs in the fourth but Escalon answered back with a pair, taking a 6-5 lead. Escalon got a couple insurance runs in the sixth, leading 8-5, and Calaveras was able to score one in the seventh but Escalon closed it out for an 8-6 win.
Ami Hood was 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored; Anastasia Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, a double and three RBI; Lexi Prim went 2-for-4, double, two RBI; Shelise Hatfield, 3-for-4, two RBI; Katie Heflin, 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Marissa Dominguez went the first five innings, Jenessa Costa finished up the last two.
"Calaveras started off with the three but we came back with two and just kept chipping away," explained coach Dianne Teixeira. "They bobbled a couple, we made them defend, we just kept hitting it hard."
On to the NorCal in Tracy, Escalon was one of 64 teams, playing in four different brackets in the major tournament. They were in the Silver bracket and fell in the opener to Los Banos, 4-2, on Thursday, April 28.
"They're a decent school and they're in a WAC title fight right now with Patterson," said Teixeira.
Escalon got its two runs in the first but then couldn't get any more in. Hood singled and stole second, coming in to score on a fly ball deep to right field from Rodriguez that dropped in. Hatfield then doubled in Rodriguez.
Costa got the start on the mound and pitched well, limiting Los Banos to four runs but the Lady Cougar offense couldn't get going.
They played later that same day, taking on Kings Academy of Sunnyvale and won that game, 12-8, with Costa again on the mound. Big hitters were Rodriguez, 4-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI and Prim, 3-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.
"All the girls were seeing the ball well, we just kept hitting," Teixeira said. "We scored three early to give us a little lead."
On Friday, Costa and Dominguez split the mound duties and the team took a tough loss, 12-2 in five innings, to Deer Valley of Antioch.
"Conditions were windy, but they just hit better than we did," said Teixeira of falling to their opponent.
For Escalon, Rodriguez had a triple and an RBI, Hatfield had an RBI single.
In the final game, the Lady Cougars faced off with LeGrand and were poised to take the win, but gave up five runs in bottom of the seventh to lose it, 9-8.
"We had 'em and they came back," Teixeira said, disappointed the team didn't hang on for the win.
Casey Schmidig paced the team offensively with a 3-for-4 day, single, double, triple and four RBI, while Prim had a triple and an RBI; Rodriguez single, two RBI; Nicole Bianchi, 2-for-4, two runs scored, RBI.
Playing on spring break kept the girls in game shape, and they will be on the field for two in Trans-Valley League play this week. They host Hughson on Wednesday, May 4 at 4 p.m. and travel to Hilmar on Friday, May 6. They wrap up the regular season with a home game on Wednesday, May 11 against Modesto Christian.
