Crescenta Valley holds off Glendale in wild Pacific League affair
GLENDALE — It’s possible there will be multiple softball teams competing for the Pacific League championship over the next six weeks.
Count Crescenta Valley and Glendale among the squads aiming to contend for league supremacy.
With an outstanding top of the lineup, Crescenta Valley showed why it’s a team to be recognized and the one sitting atop the league standings.
Crescenta Valley got a superb effort at the plate from Jessica Yzaguirre, who collected three hits, two runs and four runs batted in en route to a 10-8 win at Glendale on Thursday. The Falcons sprinted out to an 8-0 lead before weathering a comeback attempt from the Nitros, who drew within two runs in the bottom of the seventh with the tying run at the plate.
Yzaguirre, Alyssa Hernandez and Peyton Hause, the top three batters in the Falcons’ lineup, combined for eight hits, five runs and six RBI to help Crescenta Valley (10-5-1, 4-0 in league) fend off a late comeback bid by Glendale (8-5, 2-2).
Yzaguirre, who caught the final out in center field with the tying run at the plate, had an inside-the-park home run and later added two singles.
“We’re playing our game and we’re scoring runs early in games,” said Yzaguirre, who hit her home run in the second inning. “We have a very good lineup and that’s because we try to keep things simple.
“We’re playing well right now and we were able to get two big wins against Burroughs and Glendale this week.”
Crescenta Valley scored three runs in the first to grab a 3-0 lead. The Falcons made it 1-0 on an error by the shortstop and then received a two-run double from Emily Mulcahey to extend the lead to 3-0.
Crescenta Valley then got a two-run home run from Yzaguirre to make it 5-0. Yzaguirre sliced the ball down the left-field line and the ball got past the left fielder, allowing the speedy Yzaguirre to score behind Natalie Bitetti.
“I took a quick peek to see if she’d get to the ball,” Yzaguirre said. “I got around second base and then sprinted home.”
The Falcons then turned to the top of the lineup to produce three runs in the fourth to make it 8-0. Crescenta Valley got RBI hits from Hernandez, Yzaguirre and Hause.
“We have a lot of leadership from one to three [in the batting order],” Crescenta Valley Coach Amanda Peek said. “They push each other and then it moves on down in the lineup.”
Glendale mounted a comeback, scoring three runs in the fourth to pull to within 8-3. Aurora Funaro had a two-run double and Amanda Gonzalez followed with a run-scoring single.
Crescenta Valley got RBI singles from Kristy Taix and Yzaguirre in the fifth to give the Falcons a 10-3 lead.
Glendale responded with three runs in its half of the fifth, as Sammy Fabian scored on a wild pitch. That was followed with a sacrifice fly by Esme Piedra and a run-scoring single by Funaro.
Glendale closed out the scoring with two runs in the eighth. Mona Delarea scored on a passed ball and a ground out by Janet Dominguez completed the Nitros’ scoring.
“We were down, 8-0, and we still gave ourselves a chance to win in the end,” Glendale first-year Coach Chris Funaro said. “We were able to make some plays and get some hits after the third inning, but you can’t spot a great team like CV eight runs, because it’s hard to come back.
“We have to work a little harder on our defense. There’s still time to do that and we’ll look to build off of what we were able to do over the last five innings.”
The Falcons got three hits each from Hernandez and Bitetti and two from Hause. The Nitros received two hits apiece from Fabian and Funaro.
Just two days from defeating Burroughs and ending the Indians’ 22-game league winning streak, the Falcons, searching for their first league crown since 2011, are the last league unbeaten with a seven-game league winning streak to boot.
The Nitros and Falcons, who shared second place last season, will meet against May 2 at Crescenta Valley.
Crescenta Valley and Glendale will participate in league games at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. Crescenta Valley will be at home against Burbank and Glendale will travel to Arcadia.
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
