PIONEER BEATS RIVAL WOODLAND TO SWEEP
Patriots score early in sweep of season series
There’s nothing better than a crosstown rivalry, especially when the two teams can clash more than once in a season.
The Pioneer High School varsity softball team traveled across the City of Trees this week for a matchup against Golden Empire League rival, Woodland High School. The Patriots (144, 7-1 GEL) completed the season sweep of the Wolves (9-8, 3-5) with a 10-0 victory on Wednesday afternoon.
“(It was) fantastic,” said Pioneer coach Linda Merrida. “There’s something to rivalry games. We’ve had many games that have been nail-biters. It’s not often when you play them twice in a season and win by 10 runs. It does allow you to try and get your whole lineup in the game.
“I was excited about the kids who were able to focus on hitting the middle (of the field). I didn’t mean to hit the pitcher but we hit some shots today.”
Pioneer started hot in the 80-degree weather, scoring three runs in the top of the first inning. However, Woodland sophomore pitcher Addison Tetreault cooled them off over the next two innings, holding the Patriots without a run.
Then came the fourth inning. Pioneer scored five runs to take a commanding 8-0 lead. The Patriots scored the first three runs of the frame with two RBI singles and a sacrifice fly. Sophomore third baseman Sofia Hernandez put the game out of reach with an RBI double to deep left center field to score two runs.
“It’s a matter of focus,” Merrida explained. “We should be able to score every inning or attempt to mount an attack against them. We have to get ready for playoffs. We can’t look ahead but we can so we can build upon our offensive strategies.”
Pioneer added two more insurance runs with one in the fifth and seventh innings, respectively, and ultimately went on to win 10-0. The Patriots defeated the Wolves by 10 runs earlier in the season as well, prevailing 11-1 on March 24.
Sophomore pitcher Jia Beebe
(12-4) earned the win for Pioneer. She pitched a complete game, tossing seven shutout innings, allowing five hits with five strikeouts on 80 pitches.
“Today she threw to (freshman) Caitlin Mayfield because I rested (sophomore) Ashley (Gruben) a little bit,” Merrida said. “That kind of helps and gives (Caitlin) a chance to catch Jia.”
Tetreault (4-6) suffered the loss in the circle for Woodland. The sophomore tossed all seven innings and gave up 17 hits and 10 runs (two earned) with two punch-outs on 91 pitches. The eight unearned runs given up by the Wolves came on the heels of four errors in the field.
“We were not very clean at the beginning of the game defensively,” recalled Woodland coach Paul Vietti. “We gave them a few runs at the top. Of course, the girls started getting down when they get down (on the scoreboard). I thought they battled back a little bit and we started to pick up our game. We have a couple girls, one who has been sick for a while and one just got injured, so we’re missing a couple and had to move some positions. That made it a little odd.”
Senior first baseman Maddie Burkhart and Tetreault each went 2-for-3 at the plate for the Wolves, including a double for Burkhart.
“We feel like we can play with these guys, but we have to play our top game and we weren’t at the beginning,” Vietti explained.
The Patriots were led to the win offensively by Hernandez who was 2-for-4 with a game-high two RBI, a double and a run scored. Hernandez said postgame that she employed a relaxed approach at the plate Wednesday which led to her success.
“I thought we did pretty good. The defense really picked up our pitcher and I just really want to give a shoutout to them,” Hernandez said. “Our offense was on fire too, everyone hit, everyone got on base. It was just an overall good day.”
Freshmen outfielders Kylie Cueva and Sofia Castro each went 2-for-3 at the dish Wednesday. Castro hit an RBI double and scored a run while Cueva scored twice and stole a base.
Pioneer now shifts its focus to Friday for the beginning of a home-and-home series against Casa Roble (7-8, 5-1). The Patriots play in Orangevale to conclude the week. Pioneer returns home Monday to kick off May with Senior Day.
“We just have to go in there with the mindset to be more patient at bat and also play good defense,” Merrida foreshadowed. “We don’t know anything about them but in the past we’ve had really good competition with them. They’re in the playoff picture too.”
Woodland will have the rest of the week to practice and regroup before hosting Rio Linda (10-8, 3-5) on Monday afternoon. All three upcoming games mentioned are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
“We’re in that mix (to make playoffs),” Vietti said. “We got one more with Rio Linda and Casa Roble twice, so those are big games coming up next week.”