High School Roundup : Grossmont Leaves 13 on Base but Scores Enough to Defeat El Capitan

The score should have been higher and the margin wider. But between Grossmont and El Capitan high schools, 22 runners were left on base Wednesday, and the result was a 2-1 nonleague softball victory for Grossmont.

Grossmont led, 1-0, going into the fourth inning and had the opportunity to greatly extend the lead, loading the bases twice. But the Foothillers added just one run when freshman Jolie Oliver led off with a double and scored on an error.

“We were hitting the ball on the ground, but we weren’t able to get the key hits we needed,” said Grossmont Coach Steve Sutton, whose team left 13 runners on base. “We had a good chance of breaking it wide open. We just didn’t do it.”

The Foothillers got good hitting from softball rookie Lafrania West, who scored Grossmont’s first run on a single by Brenna Hancock in the first inning. West, who was three for four with a steal, was playing in her first game. She competed in track her first three years.

If Grossmont had lost, Sutton had a list of excuses. Although Hancock (9-2), was the winner, she wasn’t pitching her best because of allergies and illness, Sutton said.

Grossmont’s catcher, Barbara Dotson, returned after missing a week of practice because of a serious sunburn, and second baseman Heather Reynolds also returned after a bout with the flu.

“I was having problems with my allergies and having problems breathing. It slowed me down a lot,” said Hancock, who has also been battling a cold.

The Vaqueros (4-4) also left runners on the bases. They loaded them in the fourth inning but scored only once when Buffy Myers came home on Hancock’s overthrow of Dotson.

“We left runners on second an third several times,” said Alan Eber, El Capitan’s coach. “We made too many mistakes, some key errors.”

Eber praised second baseman Andrea Bravo and center fielder Melissa Hatfield for their defensive play and said he thinks Bravo is the best second baseman in the county.

“Andrea knows the price you have to pay to be good,” Eber said. “Some of the kids complain about long practices. Never Andrea--she wants to practice more.