SOFTBALL ROUNDUP : El Dorado Gets Six Runs in Sixth to Defeat Canyon

El Dorado’s penchant for playing tough right to the end continued Thursday against visiting Canyon.

Down two runs, the Golden Hawks scored six in the bottom of the sixth inning to steal a 6-2 nonleague softball victory from the Comanches.

El Dorado (10-2) was able to avoid extra innings, which have been kind to the Hawks; they have beaten Garden Grove in nine innings, Cerritos in eight and Troy in 10.

“They get their backs against the wall and come out really hard,” first-year Canyon Coach Chris Schaner said of the Hawks, who have only one senior, pitcher Heather Hamer. “They’re a tough team; they believe in each other and they work real hard at it.”

The Hawks never let up against the Comanches (6-4), who lost for the third time in five games. It finally paid off against losing pitcher Veronica Lopez, who had allowed only two earned runs in 43 innings before Thursday’s sixth.

Freshman Carrie Jeffries, who pitched two innings before being replaced by Hamer (5-1), tripled down the right-field line and scored on Roxie McManus’ single.

Sophomore Jenny Miskov singled, and an out later, sophomore Erika Rainey’s bunt along the first-base line was allowed to roll foul by sophomore Kristy Hiatt--except it stayed fair. That loaded the bases.

Nikki Hart, whom left fielder Annette Bailey robbed of a hit in her previous at-bat, walked to make it 2-2. Then Miskov was safe under the tag of Lopez on a passed ball that got no more than six feet from catcher Jamie Al-Moradi.

Kelli Tom walked and Stacy Schaner had a two-run single. Tom later scored on a wild pitch.

“We’re young, but we have a lot of experience on this team,” said Chris Schaner, a longtime El Dorado assistant. “We’ve got 10 girls who play year-round.

“If you had told me a year ago we would have two freshman starters in the infield, I would have laughed. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the caliber of players new to the program.”