Ramona outlasts Arlington, now all alone in first place

Victoria Recendez made a rare relief appearance Thursday afternoon, but she entered the pitching circle with confidence.

Recendez was summoned to the circle to protect Ramona’s one-run lead after the tying run reached with no outs in the top of the seventh inning. And Recendez retired three straight batters to earn the save and preserve a 5-4 victory over Arlington in a River Valley League softball game.

Ramona (9-7, 7-1 in league) won the season series against Arlington (7-5, 6-2) and grabbed sole possession of first place in the league standings.

Ramona starting pitcher Kaytlin Stephens surrendered a run in the opening inning but cruised through the next four innings. Stephens ran into some trouble in the top of the sixth inning, however, as Arlington loaded the bases with no outs. Lorena Ricasa scored on a ground out by Isabel Manzo to trim the deficit to 3-2. Ryleigh Pliego followed with a double to right-center field to plate two more runs and give the Lions a 4-3 lead.

But Ramona immediately responded in the bottom half of the sixth, loading the bases with one out with slugger Olivia Chavez coming to the plate. After the plate umpire went out to break up a conference in the circle, he said, “intentional walk.” The decision to walk Chavez and bring in the tying run appeared to be made by the players, because Lions coach Greg Brandt bolted from the dugout to ask the umpire what had happened.

Brandt had to leave the stadium immediately after the game and was not available for comment.

Chavez went 3 for 3 and raised her season average to .491, but she had mixed feelings about receiving the “Barry Bonds Treatment.”

“That was bittersweet,” Chavez said. “Yeah, it shows respect that they walked me, but I didn’t get the chance to hit for my team.”

Ava Wallace lifted a pitch to right field, resulting in a sacrifice fly that scored Milannie Gonzalez with the go-ahead run.

“I knew I had to do a job because my team needed me,” said Wallace, a senior shortstop who drove in four runs in Ramona’s 7-0 victory over Arlington earlier in the week. “I wasn’t necessarily looking to get a hit. I just wanted to get the runner home any way I could.”

Sophia Tavaglione drew a walk leading off the seventh inning, prompting Ramona coach Laura Shinar to make a change in the circle. Recendez struck out the first batter she faced and then retired the final two batters on ground balls to third baseman Jayla Campos.

“I like pitching in those situations because I want to help my team win,” said Recendez, who was pitching in relief for just the second time this season. “I was a little nervous going out there because it’s a one-run game, but I knew I had to get the job done.”

Recendez allowed four runs in the first inning when the teams first played in February, the result being a 4-2 win for Arlington. Recendez did not surrender another run to the Lions over the next 14 innings. That scoreless streak included a five-hit shutout in Tuesday’s win.

“I just changed my mentality,” Recendez said. “I just knew that if I brought my best stuff, everything would be OK. I was ready.”

Ricasa walked with one out in the top of the first and scored the game’s first run when Mia Cortez smacked a double to the gap in left-center field. Ramona responded with two runs in the bottom half of the first inning. Gonzalez reached on a fielding error and scored the tying run on a three-base throwing error. Chavez then lined a sharp single to left field to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.

Ramona extended the advantage to 3-1 in the third inning when Chavez and Wallace opened up the frame with back-to-back doubles.

Stephens allowed four runs on five hits and struck out eight batters over six-plus innings of work to improve her record to 6-2.