St. Monica softball can’t stave off Animo Leadership

INGLEWOOD — Yamila Evans had been waiting five innings Tuesday for the momentum to shift in the favor of the St. Monica Academy softball team, especially when the sophomore pitcher had yet to allow a hit against Animo Leadership and still faced a two-run deficit.

Just when it seemed the visiting Crusaders had finally broken through against Animo pitcher Hailee Cornejo to tie the score in the top of the sixth, the Aztec Eagles responded in the bottom of the inning to deliver a heartbreaking conclusion to St. Monica’s season.

Animo collected its only two hits against Evans in the sixth, the second a two-out, two-strike single to center by Sabrina Perdomo to score Kimberly Richmond to defeat the Crusaders, 3-2, in the second round of the CIF Southern Section Division VII playoffs at Vincent Park.

“It was just a little more on the plate, just a little higher than it should have been,” Evans said of the pitch to Perdomo, who hit a hard ground ball back up the middle to produce the deciding run. “I’m very proud of our team. I believed in our girls. Even though we were down, we stayed positive and we battled back. I felt like once we scored, the momentum shifted and the tide was turning toward our side, but give them credit. They did a really good job.”

Animo (17-1), which returned to the quarterfinals and plays Thursday against top-seeded Rolling Hills Prep (17-3-1), collected its first hit against Evans with one out in the sixth when Richmond singled to right. After Richmond stole second and third, Perdomo — who struck out her first two at-bats — delivered the clutch hit for the Aztec Eagles.

“Their girl made a good swing. She hit a pitch we wanted her to hit,” St. Monica Coach Barry Evans said. “I’m proud of the team because everyone contributed in some way. I think if we had scored in the fifth, it could have been a different outcome. We still came back in the sixth and got those runs, which was great, but I think we missed a good opportunity in the fifth.”

Although St. Monica (10-6) had four batters get on in the fifth, including a bunt single from Clara Griffin, Mary McCarty reaching base on an error and Yesenia Vega being hit by a pitch, the Crusaders stranded two runners.

Malia Evans led off the sixth for St. Monica with a triple to left and scored when Yamila Evans’ fly ball to left was misplayed, resulting in her advancing to second. After stealing third, Yamila Evans took advantage of an Animo throw to first on a dropped third strike against Sophia Vega to score the tying run.

“The top of our lineup is usually where we get everything, especially our first five hitters,” Barry Evans said. “But the bottom of our lineup did more than we could have asked of them in terms of getting runners on and extending innings.”

After Griffin was hit by a pitch and McCarty reached base on a fielder’s choice, the runners advanced to third and second on a wild pitch. But Cornejo halted the Crusaders’ threat by striking out Yesenia Vega, one of 11 strikeouts for the Animo sophomore.

St. Monica mounted one more rally in the seventh when Therese Boles reached base on an infield single, but Cornejo struck out Malia Evans and got Yamila Evans to pop out to short to preserve the victory.

“It’s more mentally challenging being in that situation because physically I know I’ve done everything I can to prepare,” Yamila Evans said. “You really want to do something positive and you know your team wants you up there, so you just have to keep your emotions under control. I’m disappointed I couldn’t come through, but I know it will make me better in the future.”

Animo took advantage of walks in the first two innings by Yamila Evans, who finished with 14 strikeouts, to manufacture a pair of runs following a combination of stolen bases, wild pitches and passed balls.

“We always say that walks equal runs and they were an aggressive team and once they got on base, they took advantage,” Barry Evans said. “We wanted to get to the quarterfinals again to match last season, but to lose, 3-2, against this team in the second round, we can deal with that.”