San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Titans save best for last inning
Southwest Legacy’s softball team saved its best for last Friday night in the Titans’ Class 5A first round one-game playoff against Highlands, scoring a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to pull out a 3-2 victory at Legacy.
“We got the hits when we needed them,” Legacy coach Teri Camarillo said. “This team has a lot of heart and they really believe in themselves. There’s a group of nine seniors who have been together all four years we’ve had a varsity team and tonight was an emotional game for them. I guess they really didn’t want it to end tonight.”
With the win, Legacy (14-13) moves on to play Dripping Springs later this week.
Legacy’s last-gasp rally began with the Titans down 2-1 and deep in their batting order. However, No. 8 hitter Hannah Williams started things off by reaching on an error and nine-hole batter Marisa Martinez was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second with no outs. A passed ball then moved the runners up to second and third.
Back at the top of the order, Ylianna Kuykendall laid down a bunt, but Highlands catcher Loriann Trevino tagged out pitch-runner Amber Carrillo as she tried to score, leaving runners on first and third with one out. Highlands didn’t contest Kuykendall taking second and that proved to be crucial, as Novalee Gloria lifted a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Martinez with the tying run and allowing Kuykendall to scamper over to third with two outs.
Natalie Zepeda, Legacy’s No. 3 batter, stepped to the plate and drove an infield single up the middle that the Owls couldn’t handle, scoring Kuykendall and sending the Titans through to the next round of the postseason.
Despite the loss, Highlands coach Monica Acuna had nothing but praise for her players and the game they played.
“This team we had tonight was the team I knew we had all season long,” Acuna said. “We played one of our best games of the year against a great team. That’s all I can really ask of them and both teams deserve kudos for how they played.”
Neither team was able to muster much offense until the bottom of the fourth, when Legacy got a leadoff single from Zepeda. Arianna Elizondo-Galvan put down a sacrifice bunt to move Zepeda to second and then, with two outs, Titan pitcher Blanca Sanchez helped her own cause by doubling off the center field wall to score Zepeda and give Legacy a 1-0 lead. Highlands center fielder Michelle Perales was injured on the play after she crashed into the fence trying to catch the ball and the game was delayed for more than 10 minutes as Perales was tended to by athletic trainers from both schools.
“We hit the ball well early, but we just kept hitting the ball to them,” Camarillo said. “We finally were able to get some hits when we needed them.”
Highlands didn’t get its first hit until the top of the fifth — a leadoff single by Trevino — and had just two baserunners through the first five frames as the Owls struggled to get anything going against Sanchez. Sanchez only had two strikeouts in the first five innings, but her defense made all of the plays behind her to keep Highlands off the basepaths.
Highlands (18-8) finally broke through in the top of the sixth, using a single, fielder’s choice and a walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Following a flyout that kept runners on first and second and now with two outs, Jazlyn Tober singled home one run to tie the game at 1 and leave runners on first and third. Trevino responded with a double to the gap in right center to bring home another run and make it 2-1 Highlands.
Legacy responded in the bottom half, getting one-out singles from Elizondo-Galvan and Destiny Fulghum to put runners on first and second. Sanchez walked to load the bases, but Tobler came back with a strikeout and the Owls got a pickoff at third to snuff out the potential rally and keep it 2-1 Highlands after six innings.
After an uneventful top half of the seventh, Legacy made its rally to prolong its season and make a winner out of Sanchez, who threw a complete game and allowed two runs (both earned) on five hits with four strikeouts and two walks.
“(Sanchez) likes to work off of the corners and we weren’t getting that call tonight,” Camarillo said. “So, she took a little bit off of it and the defense just worked behind her and kept her in it all game long.”
Zepeda and Fulghum both were 2-for-3 for the Titans, who finished with seven hits in the victory.
Tober took the loss in the circle for the Owls, allowing three runs (one earned) on seven hits with six strikeouts and a walk in 62⁄3 innings of work. Trevino was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI for Highlands in the loss.