Warriors bounced by Eagles
Anthem Prep scores 5 in 6th to pull away
The San Pasqual softball team let one slip out of its fingers on Thursday after losing a late lead against Anthem Prep.
The Warriors fell 8-4 after a five-run inning from the Eagles in the sixth.
The teams traded leads throughout the game, but the big sixth inning from Anthem was the last run of the game as San Pasqual (5-8 AIA, 3-3 region) couldn’t manage another rally late.
“We just needed to hit. Other than that our players did great,” San Pasqual cocoach Marco Navarro said.
The Eagles (5-5, 3-2) took the first lead of the game, but for most of the afternoon Warriors’ pitcher Reece Ghiotto kept her opponents in check.
Ghiotto pitched a complete game in the circle with six earned and two unearned runs. She had eight strikeouts.
“Reece does an outstanding job pitching. She controls the tempo of the game,” San Pasqual co-coach Daryl Harrison said. “She’s the natural leader on this team.
AP: 5-5 AIA, 3-2 region SP: 5-8 AIA, 3-3 region
She’s a senior. She plays her travel ball and she does what she needs to do. We expect her to come out and have six, seven strikeouts a game to control it. On top of that she does well with her bat.”
Anthem led 2-0 when San Pasqual scored a run in the bottom of the bottom of the third. Erica Martin had a double where she advanced to third base on an error, and two batters later Ghiotto knocked her in on a single to make the game 2-1.
Martin finished the game 2-for-4 with a double and Ghiotta was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.
The Warriors took the lead in the bottom of the fourth with Xaviera Hiraks having a two-run double into right field to knock in Ida Jose and Syanne Golding. Khamile Durant had an RBI single in the next at bat to bring Hiraks in and put her team up 4-2.
Hiraks was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs.
Anthem did most of its damage in the top of the sixth with five hits in the inning. Those five hits led to five runs, and that was enough to pull away with the game.
The game was a rematch of an earlier game that San Pasqual won 14-7. Despite the loss on Thursday Harrison likes how the team has come together with four games left in the regular season. “I think we’re right on par,” he said. “Today was a rough one. We got them last time we played them at their place. We’ll battle back. We play Havasu on Monday and hopefully we’ll right the ship and finish strong on the season.”
San Pasqual entered Thursday ranked No. 16 in 1A.