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Varsity Softball Wins Two Of Four For Week
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Lady Cougars meet on the mound in recent Trans-Valley League action. The varsity girls were busy over the Spring Break with the NorCal Tournament. Marg Jackson/The Times

Starting out the NorCal Tournament in Tracy with a 6-0 win, the Escalon varsity softball girls also edged Patterson, but were shut out by Tracy and took a one-run loss to American of Fremont in tournament action.

Bella Strach took a no-hitter into the sixth inning against Dixon in the opener and ended the contest as the winning pitcher in the 6-0 victory, allowing one hit, striking out nine and walking four.

Offensively, Hailie Webster was 2-for-2 with a walk, Malia Babasa and Hannah Boyd each went 2-for-4, while Lexy Underwood, Strach, Brooke Campbell, Leticia Gutierrez and Ariel Astabie each had a hit.

Against Tracy, in their second game on Thursday, they took a 9-0 loss. Brooke Davis scattered 11 hits, struck out two and walked four while on the mound.

“We, as an offense, struck out 15 times,” head coach Art Brooks said of the bats going quiet.

They only managed three hits, Babasa with a single in the first, Marissa Gonzalez with a single in the third and Strach with a single in the fourth.

Saturday, they were back at it, taking hard 3-2 loss to American of Fremont.

“Bella allowed three hits, struck out 11 and walked four,” Brooks said. “We had just four hits and they were scatted singles, from Bella, Hailie Webster, Cheyenne Parker and Leticia Gutierrez.”

They closed out the tournament with a 6-5 win over Patterson. Davis was the winning pitcher and Strach got the save, with two strikeouts and a fly ball out in the final inning.

She was also 3-for-4 on the day with a three-run homer. Sage Davis and Babasa each went 2-for-4, Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with an RBI.

“It was a long tournament, we had late games both days,” said Brooks.

But the girls got in some solid work and return to Trans-Valley League play this week. They had a make-up game scheduled against Livingston on Tuesday, after The Times went to press and play at Modesto Christian on Wednesday, May 1. They close out the regular season with a road game at Riverbank on May 8, then look to start the playoffs on May 13.