Hernandez perfect in Crescenta Valley softball victory against Glendale
GLENDALE — Dee Dee Hernandez came away perfect twice Thursday as she kept the Crescenta Valley High softball team in first place.
After Crescenta Valley suffered its first Pacific League defeat Tuesday, Hernandez and the Falcons came away with a dominant performance against Glendale on Thursday.
Hernandez went five for five at the plate and pitched an abbreviated perfect game to spur visiting Crescenta Valley to a 30-0 five-inning win against Glendale.
Hernandez finished with three singles, two doubles and was hit by a pitch. She drove in five runs.
“It’s hard to say which was better,” said Hernandez, a freshman who struck out seven. “I felt good swinging the bat and I was able to drive the ball.
“With my pitching, I got ahead in the count and I had my pitches working. My defense also did a good job backing me up.”
Crescenta Valley, which lost 2-1 to Burroughs on Tuesday to put the two squads in a tie for first, had 30 hits to complete the two-game season series sweep against Glendale. The Falcons (20-2, 9-1 in league) registered a 12-0 win against the Nitros (12-6-1, 5-5) on April 3.
Crescenta Valley, which split the league title with Burroughs last season, scored at least one run in each inning and batted around three times in three straight innings.
“You start with Dee Dee and she came out today with a dominant mentality,” said Crescenta Valley coach Amanda Peek, whose team is ranked second in CIF Southern Section Division III behind West Torrance. “She focused on every single pitch she threw and she had nice, short compact swings when she batted.
“As a team, we don’t want to be peaking right now and we still want to get better. The loss to Burroughs gave us a little more fuel and you just keep on playing.”
Crescenta Valley received four hits and five runs from Alyssa Hernandez, three hits and four runs batted in from Peyton Hause and Arianna Chavez.
The Falcons scored six runs in the second to take a 7-0 advantage. Alyssa Hernandez drove in a run with a single to make it 2-0. Emily Bitetti (three hits, five runs batted in and four runs) had a run-scoring single to make it 3-0 before Dee Dee Hernandez followed with a run-scoring double.
The Falcons scored six runs in the third to build a 13-0 lead.
Dee Dee Hernandez batted twice in the fourth and had a pair of run-scoring singles. Crescenta Valley scored 10 runs in the fourth to grab a 23-0 lead.
The Falcons scored seven runs in the fifth to cap the scoring.
“We made a lot of errors and we just couldn’t get things going,” Glendale coach Chris Funaro said. “It was a complete disaster .and we gave them a lot of runs.
“It’s just one of those days. CV has got a great team and you have to play your best against a team like that. We didn’t do that.”
Twitter: @TCNCharlesRich
