Canyon clubs way to win

Cowboys outlast Hart in Foothill slugfest

This has basically become the norm for Hart and Canyon softball.

The two teams beat the tar out of each other for seven innings, sending balls out of the park and into power alleys, and someone eventually emerges with a blood-pressure-raising win.

Thursday that was Canyon, as Amanda Doyle’s six RBIs and a four-run, sixth inning lifted the Cowboys to a crucial 13-11 road victory.

Canyon (13-7 overall, 3-3 in Foothill League) and Hart (13-8, 1-5) have now both scored in double figures in their last three league meetings.

Canyon won 16-15 on April 14, 2015.

And Hart won 12-11 back on April 12 of this year, a game in which the Cowboys hit seven home runs.

“When you come out and have seven home runs and don’t win, it really gets you down,” Doyle said. “But for

us to come back and beat them — what was it, like 1311? — and keep battling and come back when they scored four runs, we were really energetic and it was good.”

Canyon hit five homers Thursday — none bigger than Doyle’s two-run, go-ahead homer in the sixth inning.

Doyle’s shot turned a 10-9 deficit into an 11-10 lead. And relief pitcher Jessica Goodspeed made it stand up

down the stretch, stranding Hart base runners at second and third in the bottom of the seventh inning by educing a fly out to right field.

The sixth-inning surge wasn’t even Canyon’s biggest frame, though.

The Cowboys hit three home runs in a seven-run third inning.

Micayla Aguilar led off the frame with a solo shot to cut Hart’s early lead to 4-1.

Then, later in the inning, Doyle’s grand slam put Canyon ahead 5-4.

Sara Treat followed shortly after with a two-run shot to make it 7-4.

“It was a little nerve-racking,” said Canyon head coach Kristan Hinze. “This game is crucial for us right now. It brings us back to 3-3. Had it not, we would have been at 2-4, and it puts us in a different place going into our next couple games.”

Kailee Powell finished 2-for-2 with a home run and three walks for Canyon, which is currently alone in third place, the final automatic playoff spot for the Foothill League.

Hart’s Kylie Norwood went 3-for-4. Her RBI single in the first inning gave the Indians a 1-0 lead, which they

extended to 4-0 by the end of the opening frame.

Hart scored four runs in the fourth to tie the score 8-8, and pushed two runs across in the fifth to take a 10-9 lead.

But Canyon answered every time.

Sage Miller, Sierra Boyajian, Andrea Cespedes and Jordyn Gasper each had two hits for Hart.

Gasper shot a line drive down the left field line in the seventh, but Cayla Calderon made a diving catch for the first out to help Goodspeed close the game out.

Brittany Workman pitched

the first 3 1/3 innings for Canyon. And Boyajian pitched the first three for Hart, before Norwood took over for the final four.

Saugus 12, Golden Valley 0

Centurions senior Mariah Lopez pitched a five-inning no-hitter on Thursday at Saugus, striking out eight batters and walking two.

Cayla Kessinger backed her with two home runs and four RBIs, and Lindsay Clare went 3-for-3 with two RBIs.

Saugus is now 6-0 in the Foothill League (16-7 overall) as it readies for a rematch with second-place Valencia

on the road Tuesday.

Valencia 16, West Ranch 1

Vikings pitcher Shea O’Leary continued her dominant surge through Foothill League play, striking out eight, walking two and allowing just four hits. This is after she posted one-hitters in her previous two league outings.

Vikings catcher Allysa Shipman led the way offensively, with a sixth-inning grand slam.

Valencia (15-9, 5-1) had 12 hits in the game.

West Ranch falls to 15-6 overall and 2-4 in league.