Cats rally, hold off Sultans for win
BRAWLEY — The Brawley Union High softball team clawed for a spot in the CIF-San Diego Section Div. II semifinals after recording a, 3-2, come-frombehind victory over Santana here on Saturday morning. The No. 2 Wildcats were trailing 2-0 for a majority of the game to the No. 3 Sultans, who brought in a run in the first and third innings.
Brawley had no problem putting runners on base, yet struggled to cash in at the batter’s box, leaving the bases loaded on a few occasions early in the game.
That changed in the bottom of the fifth when Savannah Contreras opened the bottom of the inning with a free base after taking a pitch to the back.
While the next two Wildcat batters were retired on fly balls, Contreras made her way to third via a base-hit from Mikalyn Emanuelli.
Senior Alysia Gallardo then kept the inning going with a hard grounder up the middle that was fielded cleanly by the Sultans’ shortstop, yet on the errant throw to first Contreras was able to score, while Gallardo was safe to bring the score to 2-1.
In the top of the sixth the Wildcat defense and starting pitcher Lilly Martinez worked to strand two Santana baserunners, setting up their biggest inning of the game.
In the bottom half of the sixth, Dana Alvarado opened with a double, while Haylee Garcia drew a walk to give Brawley two early base runners.
Santana’s Joey Barkhimer was able to retire the next batter on a pop-up, bringing up Jalyn Ayala to the plate.
The junior second baseman then doubled and drove in a run to tie the game and ignite the home crowd. “I just went up there and kept thinking I needed to get at least a single to bring that run in and once I hit it, it felt so good,” Ayala said with a smile.
Pitcher Martinez then drew a walk to load the bases, while Emanuelli engaged in a lengthy battle at the plate until she drew a walk that brought in the run that ultimately decided the game.
While the result gave the Wildcats a one-run lead, the young team still needed to shut the door on the top-half of the Sultans’ lineup in the seventh, beginning with No. 2 hitter Madison Mendez.
Martinez was able to retire Mendez on a grounder and the subsequent batter on a fly ball to right field, leaving Santana’s clean-up hitter as the last obstacle between the Wildcats and the semifinals.
Martinez came up big and worked to strike out the third batter of the inning to finish the game with seven and send Brawley to the semis.
Martinez said her coach told her Friday night she’d be starting.
“He just said, ‘Be ready to go because you’re in the circle.’ We’d played them before, and I had also pitched in that game, so I was feeling confident to be going against them.”
Martinez credited the team’s defense and sixth-inning rally with helping keep her nerves at a minimum and allowing her to finish the game.
“I knew that they’d have my back on defense or offense and that we’d eventually get those runs back,” Martinez said with a smile.
The Wildcats will now face No. 5 Olympian in the semifinals after the Eagles upset No. 1 Clairemont 6-0 in Saturday’s second-round game.
Brawley semifinal match is set for 4:15 p.m. at Sportsplex USA, Santee.