Errors cost Huntington Beach softball first place in loss to Los Alamitos
Huntington Beach High softball coach Jeff Forsberg had no explanation for what happened on Tuesday night.
In a battle for sole possession of first place in the Sunset League, the left side of the Oilers’ infield committed four errors.
The final one, a fielding error by shortstop Allee Bunker, allowed Los Alamitos’ Erin Mendoza to score the go-ahead run with two outs in the top of the seventh inning.
Los Alamitos, the top-ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division 1, went on to take a 3-2 win in the first meeting between the teams.
“It was pretty surprising,” Forsberg said. “We’ve been playing pretty flawless defense. It’s just one of those days.
“We were just tentative, and we need to get back to being aggressive.”
Michigan State commit Sarah Ladd threw a complete game with five strikeouts for the win.
Huntington Beach (12-6, 3-1 in league), however, threatened to score throughout the night. The Oilers opened the scoring in the first inning.
Jadelyn Allchin led off with a double, and she scored on a sacrifice fly by Kelly Ryono.
The Griffins (20-1, 4-0) took the lead in the third. Sophia Nugent laced a double to left-center, scoring two runs with two outs after an error by third baseman Kelli Kufta had allowed Mendoza to reach to open the frame.
In the fifth, the Oilers mounted a two-out rally that came up just short. Bunker and Kufta singled, and Ryono drew a four-pitch walk to load the bases for Reanna Rudd. The sophomore catcher lined out to Griffins second baseman Danielle Lew to end the inning.
Undeterred, Huntington Beach got even in the sixth. Megan Ryono doubled, and Shelbi Ortiz singled to left to drive her in.
Los Alamitos coach Rob Weil emptied the bench in the top of the seventh. Jamie Sellers was one of three pinch-hitters called upon in the inning, and the sophomore doubled to left-center.
“We used 18 players in this ball game, either to run, to hit, or to [do] whatever we needed them to do,” Weil said. “They came up big.
“Sellers came off the bench, a sophomore kid, and she came up huge. Every kid prepares every day in practice to be in a situation to win a ballgame for us.”
Mendoza reentered as the runner in scoring position, and Bunker booted Ali Belarde’s ground ball into left field to allow the go-ahead run to score.
Sophomore pitcher Grace Uribe threw a complete game, allowing three unearned runs on five hits in the loss. She walked none and struck out six.
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
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