Bacon bears down on Nitros in CV win

SOUTHEAST GLENDALE — From the onset of Tuesday afternoon’s Crescenta Valley High at Glendale softball game, it quickly became clear that the question at hand wasn’t how the Pacific League contest would end, but rather when it would end.

It came after five innings, as the first-place Falcons rolled to a 14-0 mercy-rule win over the Nitros on the strength of four no-hit innings in the circle by Crescenta Valley junior hurler Heather Bacon.

“I was feeling good today,” said Bacon, who struck out six and saw just three baserunners due to a hit batsman and two errors.

Bacon (9-0) also went three for three at the dish, with a walk, two runs batted in and a run scored.

Crescenta Valley (20-0, 8-0 in league), the No. 1 ranked team in CIF Southern Section Division III, tallied 11 hits in all, one more than Glendale (6-8, 3-5) had errors, equating to 11 unearned runs against Nitros starter Amy Bishop.

“I think she did very well, she did what she could,” said first-year Glendale Coach Christine Paknik of Bishop. “It was errors from start to finish.”

Three wild pitches, three errors, two hits and one passed ball equated to Ashleigh Viers-Gordillo, Baillie Kirker, Stephanie Ziemann, Caitlyn Cox, Erin Ashby and Kaela Green all scoring in the first inning to give the Falcons an early and insurmountable 6-0 advantage.

Keyed by Bacon’s two-run single in the second, the Falcons added three more runs.

Alyssa Sovereign, who went two for four with two runs and two runs batted in, doubled home Bacon and Green as part of a four-run fourth that put the Falcons up 13-0.

In contrast, the only inning of promise for the Nitros was the bottom of the first.

Bacon beaned Marielle Malabug, before Brittany Skoien and Bishop reached base on errors. However, the first two were thrown out on separate plays going for third.

“We just weren’t maybe as focused as we should’ve been,” Bacon said. “I think we bounced back.”

Bacon was perfect thereafter, retiring the final nine Nitros she faced in order, before Elizabeth Jacoby retired the side in the fifth.

“Bacon did real well,” Falcons Coach Dan Berry said.

Even more impressive was the fact that Kirker, who went 0 for one with a walk, left early due to illness, while usual starters Kali Cancelosi and Zara Montes were also ill and on the bench.

“The other kids got a chance to come in and play and did well,” said Berry, who got three runs from Ashby, two hits from Kelsey Chambers and two runs and a hit from Green.

The win was the Falcons’ 16th straight league triumph as they roll forward in search of their second straight league crown.

“We’ve still got some tough games to go,” Berry said. “This thing’s not over.”