ORANGE LEAGUE SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : Davis Sparks Valencia to Victory

After committing two throwing errors, including one that allowed Savanna to go ahead by two runs, Valencia catcher Danette Davis didn’t just get mad. She didn’t just get even.

Davis hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to give host Valencia a 3-2 victory Tuesday. It was the first Orange League loss for Savanna (16-7, 6-1), and it pulled Valencia (15-7, 5-2) within one game of first-place Savanna.

“Usually if I get errors or we’re just not doing the job, inside I can feel myself getting angry,” Davis said. “But not to the point where I’m going to mess up. Just to the point where I know I’m going to hit it. (Getting mad) helps my hitting.”

Valencia fell behind, 2-0, in the top of the third after Savanna pitcher Leigh Sager tripled to score Irene Zuniga, who had walked. Sager then scored when Davis threw wildly on a pickoff attempt at third base.

Valencia loaded the bases with two hits and a walk in the bottom of the inning, but the next three batters flied out.

“I thought we would let down a bit after that, but the same three kids who were on are the ones who scored,” Fassel said.

The trio scored in the bottom of the fifth. The first two batters, Olivia Garcia and Sylvia Batiz, walked. Seig Lo, Valencia’s leadoff hitter, bunted. But second baseman Danielle Zaleski, who was covering first base, bobbled the throw. Garcia went to third on the throw to first and scored easily after the bobble at first base. Valencia trailed, 2-1.

Two outs later, Davis’ double scored Batiz and Lo with the eventual winning runs.

Savanna tried to come back in the top of the sixth but Valencia center fielder Lo made two outstanding defensive plays.

She came from deep center to make a shoestring catch of a fly that dropped at the edge of the infield and, on the next ball, she sprinted to shallow left-center to catch another fly that looked like it would drop in for a single.

“She’s an athlete,” Valencia Coach Debbie Fassel said of Lo. “She’s the one kid on this team who, if you have to rely on somebody, we know she is going to be there.”

Like Davis, Lo may have been seeking a little redemption. Sager’s run-scoring triple sailed over Davis’ head in the third.

Valencia’s Natasha Dumoski (15-7) picked up the victory with a two-hitter, striking out 10 and walking three. Sager (7-5) picked up her first loss in four league starts. She threw a three-hitter, striking out three and walking four.

“She (Sager) just couldn’t find it today,” Savanna Coach John Cortez said.

In another Orange League game:

Brea-Olinda 5, Anaheim 0--Michelle Munro pitched a three-hitter in the victory. Munro (5-6) struck out seven and walked four. Angie Haynes had three hits for the Wildcats (10-9, 3-4).