SOFTBALL: Aztecs outslug Moors

By Scott Galetti, Staff Writer
ALHAMBRA - The cross-town rivalry between Alhambra High Schooland Keppel high schools was magnified Thursday afternoonwhen the twoschools battled on the softball field with first place in the Almont League at stake.
With the stakes high, the Moors and Aztecs bothplayed with a sense of urgency.
In the end, the host Aztecs appeared as the last team standing in a 9-6knockdown, drag-out 9-6 victory.
Freshmen Amanda Ruacho and Cecily Ramirez each singled in a run in the sixth inning to snap a 6-6 tie and give Keppel (11-2, 2-0) its ninth win in itslast10 games.
"Amanda and Cecily, freshmen girls in their first Keppel-Alhambra rivalry game, and they performed today," Keppel coach Bobby Madrid said.
Justine Morin was 3-for-3 to lead Keppel. Ruacho Ramirez and Angie Yeh added two hits apiece as both teams pounded outhad 15 hits.
"People have been knocking us that we haven't been playing anybody, but I'll tell you right now, I would not trade those 15 girls with any team in this area," Madrid said. "These girls just perform and perform, and I hate to use these words, but we're not the football team, and these girls deserve a little bit more respect than they're getting."
After Alhambra (10-5, 1-1) took a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a
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throwing error, the Aztecs rallied with four runs of their own in the third on a single by Courtney Hirose, a two-run single by Ruacho and a double by Ramirez.
The Moors continually clawed and scratched their way back and eventually tied the game in the fifth on a double to left-center by Cherish Heaton and a ground out by Natalie Alaria.
"I need to tip my hat off to (Alhambra coach Armando Molina) and his club," Madrid said. "I thought we had it put away when we scored four runs in the third inning, but they're a good ballclub and they dug deep and tied the score up and put the pressure on us."
After Tiffany Rubin tripled with one out, Ruacho put the Moors on top to stay with a single to left.
"They said just hit the ball," Ruacho said. "It didn't matter if I hit a home run or not."
Ramirez followed with a single to center to give the Aztecs a two-run cushion.
"My coach told me that I had to come through so I came through for my team," Ramirez said.
Heaton and Jennifer Oliveras each had three hits to lead Alhambra, while Stephanie Rodriguez, Brittanie Garcia, Sylvia Romero and Samantha Chavez all had two hits.
"Our team has been hitting good the last couple of games, but our timing just wasn't there," Molina said. "We got base hits with no runners on, but when we needed the hits with runners on, we didn't step up."
Morin struck out five to earn the win while Romero suffered the loss.