Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy softball can’t catch Chaminade
LA CAÑADA — For the first half of the season, the Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy softball team has been busy trying to get its pitching up to speed.
While the Tologs have been able to out slug many of their opponents, there’s been some struggles inside the circle.
It’s something Flintridge Sacred Heart coach Kirk Nishiyama addressed after Flintridge Sacred Heart suffered a 9-5 Mission League home defeat against Chaminade.
“Hitting has definitely been our strength, but we need to get better with our pitching and defense,” Nishiyama said. “We believe we are capable of competing and it starts with our hitting.
“We’re still finding our way a little bit. It’s just about being able to find the right combinations. In the Mission League, you can’t give teams walks and make errors. That’s what we’ve done in our first two league games.”
The Tologs (10-7, 0-2 in league) walked five batters, leading to four runs. The Tologs made two errors, leading to two runs by the opportunistic Eagles (9-5, 3-0).
Flintridge Sacred Heart fell behind, 6-0, in the third inning and spent the remainder of the game trying to catch Chaminade.
Chaminade received a run-scoring single by Solana Segal to make it 1-0 in the first.
Chaminade scored three runs in the second to take a 4-0 lead. Alexis Klee scored on a wild pitch to give the Eagles a 2-0 lead. Payton Wagner followed with an RBI single to extend the advantage to 3-0 before Raquel Latta followed with a run-scoring single to make it 4-0.
The Eagles scored twice in the third. Klee drove in a run with a single to make it 5-0 and a sacrifice fly by Emma Niece made it 6-0.
Flintridge Sacred Heart scored two runs in its half of the third. Brynne Richardson scored on a wild pitch and a ground out to shortstop by Sarak Peck made it 6-2.
Chaminade scored on an error by the Flintridge Sacred Heart shortstop to make it 7-2 in the fifth. Later in the inning, a groundout to second base by Niece extended the lead to 8-2.
The Tologs scored twice in the sixth to cut the deficit to 8-4. Payton Tompkins drove in a run on a fielder’s choice and Karrie Nishiyama made it 8-4 with a run-scoring single.
Each team scored a run in the seventh. Evanne Cass drove in a run with a double for the Eagles and the Tologs received a run-scoring single by Amesie Noll to wrap up the scoring.
“We tried to make a comeback, but we fell short,” said Noll, a junior center fielder who finished with two hits. “We’ve got to find a way to get back into a groove.”
Courtney Rasic finished with two hits for the Tologs.
The teams will meet again May 3 at Chaminade.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
