Softball: Nadeau’s pinch hit upends Laguna Beach
WESTMINSTER — Prior to Tuesday’s game, La Quinta High pitcher Taryn Nadeau was told that she would not come to the plate in the contest.
A left quad strain suffered while running the bases over the weekend had caused her father and head coach, Jeff Nadeau, to take the precaution.
In a high-scoring affair, Nadeau hoped all afternoon that her dad would change his mind. Laguna Beach’s softball team probably wishes he had not.
Nadeau delivered a pinch-hit, walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh, and the Aztecs defeated the Breakers, 9-8, in a nonleague game at La Quinta High.
The junior was the only left-handed hitter that Breakers starter Emily Thomas (1-1) had seen all day.
Nadeau (2-0) did not hold back in the at-bat, taking big swings in fouling off the first three pitches of the plate appearance. On the sixth pitch, she hit a deep fly ball over the head of center-fielder Maddy Melchor.
It took one bounce to the wall, scoring Christie Trinh from third with the winning run. Nadeau continued to circle the bases with delight, arms extended to the sky.
“I was asking my dad the whole game to put me in to hit, but he wouldn’t let me until the end when I had the chance to hit the walk-off winner,” Nadeau said after striking out nine in seven innings. “I just really wanted to get the win and do it for my teammates.”
“I was really happy. I got good contact. That’s what I was looking for.”
Both pitchers did damage to each other. Thomas had two extra-base hits. Her two-run triple in the top of the fourth scored Melchor and Mia Pitz as the Breakers (1-1) took a 7-3 lead.
Hannah Cortez, one of the hottest hitters for the Aztecs, got her battery mate off the hook in the next half inning.
The bases were loaded with two outs when the La Quinta catcher lined a double into the left-field corner to score all three runners. Cortez’s timely hit evened the score, 7-7.
“When Hannah went up with the bases loaded, I knew that she would get a hit,” Nadeau said. “She’s been our rock hitter recently. Every at-bat, it seems like she is getting on base, so I have a lot of confidence in her.”
La Quinta (2-2) went ahead in the bottom of the sixth when Emily Erhardt singled through the middle to bring in Windy Nguyen, who had stolen second.
Laguna Beach knotted it up once more. Shortstop Cienna Wonder led off the seventh with an opposite-field triple to right-center. She scored on a groundout by Taylor Glenn.
“We’re really proud of the people who get the clutch hits,” Thomas said of the team’s seventh-inning rally. “I think it really builds our teamwork together. It’s the camaraderie of our team that really pushes us through the hard times.”
Traffic on the bases troubled the Breakers again in the decisive bottom of the seventh. Trinh reached on an infield single. She stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch.
Nadeau was able to capitalize with one out in the inning.
In all, the Aztecs stole eight bases.
Thomas struck out eight in her effort to work around persistent pressure. She threw scoreless frames in the second, third, and fifth. She allowed 11 hits and did not issue a walk.
The Breakers pitcher shouldered responsibility for the loss despite having four errors committed behind her in a first inning that cost Laguna Beach a 3-0 lead.
“I have a good team behind me, but I know that I have to pull my own weight as the pitcher,” Thomas said. “I just have to stay calm during the time that the bases are loaded.”
Breakers senior right-fielder Katie Williams was struck in the forehead by a fly ball in the first inning. She was pulled from the game, but she was already pleading with Laguna Beach Coach James Crawford to stay in the game as she left.
“She’s a trooper,” Crawford said of Williams. “She’s tough as nails. I believe that she will be out tomorrow for practice.”
“The ball literally broke her glasses off her face. That’s the definition of who she is. She’s going to get up, say she’s OK, and get back in there.”
Pitz and Wonder had three hits each for the Breakers.
Cortez drove in a game-high four runs for La Quinta. Sofia Kroll and Michelle Vu also had two-hit games for the Aztecs.
Nonleague
La Quinta 9, Laguna Beach 8
SCORE BY INNINGS
Laguna Beach 311 200 1 – 8 11 5
La Quinta 300 401 1 – 9 11 4
Thomas and Glenn; Nadeau and Cortez. W – Nadeau, 2-0. L – Thomas, 1-1. 2B – Pitz (LB), Thomas (LB), Cortez (LQ). 3B – Thomas (LB), Wonder (LB).
Twitter: @ProfessorTurner
