Riverside Poly slugs way past Temescal Canyon
LAKE ELSINORE >> The Riverside Poly softball team probably was expecting to see Jessenia Moore inside the pitcher’s circle Friday afternoon.
But Temescal Canyon’s ace was unavailable to throw because of an illness, so Poly’s batters had to make some quick adjustments on the fly.
The Bears struggled the first time through the order but eventually got their timing down. Poly sent 10 batters to the plate in the third and fourth innings, finished with 19 hits and pulled away for a 17-5 victory over the Titans in an Ivy League game that was called after six innings because of the run rule.
Corina Jaimes, Marley Audoma, Katelyn Cortez, Madelyn Webb and Miranda De Nave all collected three hits for Poly (20-1-1 overall, 3-0 in league).
“Some of our worst games offensively this season have been against some slower pitching,” Bears coach Robert Sakaguchi said. “We just kept telling them to get in the front of the box and wait for the ball to arrive. It took a few innings, but they made the adjustments.”
Temescal
Canyon starter Jaeleigh Graff had the Bears guessing for two innings, getting four pop outs while recording two strikeouts. And the Titans (10-5, 0-1) got to Poly starter Miranda De Nava early, collecting three singles in the bottom of the first inning to take the first lead of the game. Natalie Castro’s knock to center field with two outs brought home Brea Tillery and Xiane Romero.
Jaimes got Poly on the scoreboard in the top of the third inning with her second double of the game, and an error by Temescal Canyon allowed two more runs to score. Webb and De Nava capped that big inning with back-to-back singles to give the Bears a 5-2 advantage. Poly tacked on six more runs in the fourth inning, highlighted by a two-run double by Webb and a three-run triple by Violet Espin.
“I think we do a really good job communicating with one another in the dugout on what we are seeing during our at-bats,” said Jaimes, a senior shortstop who is headed to Central Florida. “It’s all about going up there and being able to make adjustments every pitch.”
Cortez and Webb both drove in runs in the fifth inning, and Maddy Waddell’s RBI double extended the lead to 14-2.
“We adjusted in the box to make sure we were getting on top of the ball,” said Webb, the Farleigh Dickinson-bound catcher who had four RBIs Friday.
Temescal Canyon got four more hits against De Nava in the bottom half of the fifth inning, including a three-run home run by Romero. The five runs and eight hits recorded by the Titans on Friday are the most allowed this season by De Nava, who has signed with Cal.
“Miranda is a great pitcher, so for us to go out there and hit like we did is something to be very proud of,” Temescal Canyon co-coach Kayla Tadewosian-Hill said. “We had some good at-bats where we stayed discipline, but at the same time we have to do even better.”
Audoma belted a tworun home run in the sixth inning, and De Nava capped the Bears’ big offensive effort with an RBI single.
“We fell behind early today, but I think that was a good thing for us to experience,” Sakaguchi said. “We haven’t trailed in a game in over a month. It was an opportunity to see how they would react to something like that, and I think they handled it very well.”
Tillery, Romero and Castro each had a pair of hits for Temescal Canyon.