Wildcats hold off Bulldogs
CALEXICO – The Brawley Union High softball team worked to close the door on a rambunctious and eager Calexico High squad during the teams’ Imperial Valley League contest on Wednesday night here.
The Wildcats held a narrow 3-1 lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning and worked to get two quick outs, bringing them that much closer to their second consecutive IVL win of the week.
Despite the narrow window left in the game, the Bulldogs would not go out quietly as Atellie Medina drew a walk to keep the game going.
Jean Robinson and Nicole Moran then both singled, with Moran’s hit driving in Medina to bring the score to 3-2.
With the home dugout increasing in noise, Brawley’s Jalyn Ayala was able to maintain her composure in the circle to strike out the sixth batter of the inning to end the game and keep the Wildcats’ title hopes alive.
Ayala had a total of seven strikeouts on the game to bring her total this week to 15 after Tuesday night’s win.
Ayala benefited from her team’s timely hitting and heads-up base running to seal the victory over the Bulldogs.
The Wildcats got on the board in the first and fifth innings of the game by talking advantage of early walks in both outings.
In the first inning, Lilly Martinez drove in Caryn Aguilar, who served as a pinch runner for Ayala after she reached first on a walk.
In the fifth inning, Martinez recorded her second RBI of the game off a shallow pop-fly to the right side that scored Haylee Garcia, who opened the inning with walk.
Mikalyn Emanuelli eventually made it 3-0 in favor of Brawley after knocking in Savannah Contreras, who reached first on a single.
Calexico answered with one run in the bottom of the sixth after Moran opened with a double and came around to score on a Brianna Amparano single.
The Bulldogs then made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh, before Ayala retired a Calexico batter to end the game.
With the result, Brawley moves to 13-6 on the season and 3-1 in IVL, while Calexico moves to 5-10 overall and 1-3 in league.
Both teams return to action at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, with Calexico hosting Palo Verde and Brawley hosting Holtville High.