Locals don’t let errors hurt them

GLENDALE — Will Thayer, coach of the Crescenta Valley Junior All-Star softball team, had been waiting for his team to start hitting up to its potential.

It looks like Crescenta Valley has turned the corner in that regard. The locals have scored 35 runs in the past two games, including a 14-6 victory over South El Monte in the Southern California State Championship tournament in Victorville on Tuesday night.

The win puts Crescenta Valley back in action at 6 p.m. today. The locals will face tournament host Victorville or Westchester Del Rey in the tournament’s semifinal game.

Tuesday was CV’s second straight blowout win, after the team defeated North Park, 21-1, on Monday. It looks as if the 4-2 loss the locals suffered at the hands of Westchester Del Rey on Sunday has served as a wake-up call for Crescenta Valley.

“I think it was a wake-up call because we had it pretty easy before [Sunday],” Crescenta Valley player Marissa Cornelius said. “We realized we can’t slack off in any inning.”

Thayer said “it was probably a good thing” his team lost because it has served as a motivator for CV. While Crescenta Valley’s offense stayed hot Tuesday, the squad’s defense had an off-night. South El Monte turned three hits into six runs, thanks to three errors.

“We are still making some errors,” said Thayer, whose team improved to 6-1. “I still feel we let teams hang around more than we should.”

Crescenta Valley didn’t pull away until late. The locals scored in the first inning when Cornelius and Tiffany Briscoe started off the inning with base hits. Cailen Rodriguez reached on an error, which brought Cornelius home for a 1-0 lead.

South El Monte answered back in its half of the first when a hit batter, walk and an error put CV down, 2-1. Briscoe, who had a four-for-five game with three doubles and a triple, sparked the third inning for the locals with one of her doubles. Paige Trestrail showed some clutch hitting when she banged a RBI double on a 2-2 count to tie the game, 2-2, after three innings.

“I give [Trestrail] a lot of credit for getting us going because the team was a little down up to that point,” Thayer said.

South El Monte scored three runs in the fifth inning off a single, homer and an error and another run in the sixth on CV’s third error. It wasn’t enough to overcome Crescenta Valley, which put up a three-run fifth, five-run sixth and two-run seventh.

Rodriguez capped the scoring off with a two-run home run in the top of the seventh inning.

“I really didn’t think I got a good hit because I didn’t feel it go off the bat but it kept going,” said Rodriguez, who had three doubles.

Cornelius, who finished the game with two hits and four RBI, said the past two games have been a confidence booster for her team.

“We are hitting to our full potential,” Cornelius said. “We’ve realized we can hit any pitcher and that we can beat anybody.”