Vaqueros drop ball, settle for a split

NORTHEAST GLENDALE — While the Glendale Community College softball team managed to split its doubleheader against San Diego Southwestern on Saturday, the Vaqueros’ 4-0 loss in the nightcap, in which they surrendered three unearned runs in the opening inning and went on to strand eight base runners, had Glendale Coach Dave “Hawk” Wilder taking a glass-half-empty perspective.

“If you can’t score runs, it doesn’t matter how good you think you are — they beat us,” said Wilder, whose team opened the double bill at the Glendale Sports Complex with a 3-2 win. “Whether it was 1-0 or 4-0, if you can’t score a run, it doesn’t matter.

“When you’re struggling swinging the bat, you cannot give away runs.”

The Jaguars (2-7) scored all four of their runs in the second game with two outs, including a three-spot in the first inning that was keyed by a three-base fielding error.

Glendale starting pitcher Jennifer Meza, who allowed one earned run on 10 hits with seven strikeouts over seven innings, walked Carlotta Hiney with one out and allowed a base hit to pitcher Nikki Fonteneaux to put runners at first and second. Hiney was thrown out at home by first baseman Brittni Spear while trying to score on Shanice Sutton’s single to right field for the second out, but next batter Vivianne Atkins’ high fly ball to right field was dropped, allowing Fonteneaux and Sutton to score and putting Atkins on third base.

Nikki Beruman pushed a ground ball through the middle of the infield to score Atkins for a 3-0 lead.

The Vaqueros (3-5) would get at least one runner aboard in every inning save for the sixth and got multi-hit performances at the plate from third baseman Monique Guzman (two for three) and second baseman Samantha Dickens (two for three with a walk), a Glendale High graduate.

But they still couldn’t put much pressure on Fonteneaux, who allowed five hits in seven innings and worked out of a two-out, first-and-third jam in the bottom of the third when Meza followed catcher Brittany Wright’s two-out single with a line drive to the second baseman.

“When you’re maybe down only one run, maybe you can do a little bunting, stealing and some stuff like that where you change your game plan,” Wilder said. “But when you’re down three or four runs, you’ve now got to get as many runners on as you can, so you don’t want to give up outs to move them here and there.”

In the first game, Glendale got a strong outing in the circle from Brandy Morin, who yielded to Meza for a one-out save with two outs and the bases loaded and the tying run on third in the top of the seventh inning.

“Brandy threw a really nice game,” Wilder said.

Wright had two hits, including a double, and a run batted in in the win and Meza also had two hits and an RBI, while Dickens doubled.