Lathipanya-Kham, Hawks had plenty of energy
Accomplishments: Kharizma Lathipanya-Kham had the time of her life in Southern California this week.
But last week, the Liberty Ranch High softball player, a senior center fielder/second baseman who was a fouryear starter, and the Hawks soared in the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs. For the first time in the program’s history, the Hawks advanced to the final four of the playoffs.
In Liberty Ranch’s 6-3 win over Casa Roble in the winor-go home double-elimination game at Arnaiz Softball Complex in Morada on May 23, Lathipanya-Kham smacked a triple that scored three runs for the Hawks. That erased the Rams’ 3-2 lead late in the game.
“We weren’t nervous; we had nothing to worry about,” Lathipanya-Kham said. “That game was very intense. Even though we were down, we kept our energy up. We bounced back.”
After that game, Liberty Ranch played Calaveras, with the winner playing Ripon for the section title. The Hawks held a 10-7 lead entering the seventh inning. But Calaveras rallied in that inning to post an 11-10 win to ground the Hawks’ playoff run.
“We were all sad that the season was over,” Lathipanya-Kham said. “At the same time, we were very proud. We made history for our high school. We were still happy about that.”
Lathipanya-Kham scored the Hawks’ only run in what appeared to be enough to beat eventual section champion Ripon. But the Indians rallied with two home runs for a 5-1 win on May 22.
Throughout the playoffs, the big key for the Hawks were making adjustments at home plate; from opposing pitchers throwing the softball inside to outside the plate to the speed of those pitcher.
Lathipanya-Kham and Liberty Ranch, who won the Sierra Valley Conference title last month, knocked off Marysville 6-2 in the second round after earning a firstround bye.
“We were all very excited,” Lathipanya-Kham said. “It was just a crazy moment for us.”
The deep run in the playoffs was an enjoyable ride for Lathipanya-Kham and Liberty Ranch, Galt’s second high school that opened its doors in 2009. In recent years, after the Liberty Ranch won the
trzemski is the grandson of Hall of Famer Carl, but he had to grind his way through 703 minor league games, all in Baltimore’s system but the 40 he played this season, before getting the chance to play in the majors this week. Smith, whose father enjoyed a productive career in the 1990s, performed well in stints with Toronto. Neither was ever afforded the opportunity they have gotten with their current franchises.
The Orioles, with too many Triple-A outfielders and not enough playing time to share among them, traded Yastrzemski for minor league righthander Tyler Herb in late March. After hitting 12 home runs with Triple-A Sacramento, Yastrzemski finally got his callup, fittingly coming six days before the Giants’ first visit to Baltimore in 15 years.
He did not wait long to make an impact in his debut in the ballpark he spent six minor league seasons envisioning as his future home. After Orioles right-hander Andrew Cashner began the night with a walk to Joe Panik, Yastrzemski tripled
into the right-field corner for an RBI and scored on Buster Posey’s single. The Giants forced Cashner to make 46 pitches in a five-run first, leaving Yastrzemski on deck.
San Francisco left-hander Drew Pomeranz nearly matched Cashner in first-inning pitch count, throwing 44. On the 39th, with the Orioles having already struck for two runs, Smith hit his first career grand slam to put Baltimore ahead 6-5. The shot ended an 0for-13 skid that pushed Smith into the lower third of manager Brandon Hyde’s lineup for the first time. MASN cameras showed his father celebrating in the stands.
After both teams scored at least five first-inning runs for the first time in Orioles history, Yastrzemski drove in another, hitting his first home run on Cashner’s first pitch of the second. He joined Dwight Evans as the only players with a homer and triple against the Orioles within their first six games in the majors.
The bullpen was solid behind him. After 1 1/3 innings from Paul Fry, Mychal Givens recovered from a stretch of rough outings by retiring the three batters he faced with two strikeouts.