By Stephen Ramirez
@SteveRRamirez on Twitter
WEST COVINA — South High School, which has been one of the better hitting softball teams in the area the past few seasons, believes its never out of a game.
It showed why Monday.
Marissa Reyes went 2 for 3 and Mariah Tovar hit a two-run home run in a four-run second inning and the Huskies rallied for a 4-2 victory over Bishop Amat in a battle of two of the top three teams in the area in a pool play game of the Charter Oak Charger Classic at Big League Dreams Park. The game was called in the bottom of the fifth due to the tourney’s time-limit rule.
Freshman pitcher Natalie Lugo gave up two runs and struck out five for South Hills, which improved to 5-1. The Huskies, ranked No. 3 in the area to begin the season, opened the tournament with an 8-1 victory over Covina, also on Monday, to win their pool. Bishop Amat, getting two hits from Alyssa Barrera, slipped to 1-2. The Lancers began the season ranked No. 1 in the area.
South Hills, trailing 2-0, rallied back for the lead in the second. Tovar, after Christie Aguilar led off with a walk, tied it with a line-drive home run to right-center field. The Huskies then loaded the bases on a singles by Melysia Ortega and Caitlyn Felina and a walk to Lugo. Reyes singled to make it 3-2 before Felina scored on a passed ball for a 4-2 advantage.
South Hills’ Mariah Tovar: “We have a great team. We’ve all bonded and we never have our heads down and are always coming back. We got down, obviously. We were ready to fight and didn’t want to give this game to them. We just pushed, because we knew we could hang with them and we came back.”
Bishop Amat’s Alyssa Barrera: “We came into this game really hungry. We really wanted to beat South Hills. It just didn’t’ work out the way we wanted it to. Our pitchers were good, our defense was good. Sometimes (the offense) can’t carry with the hits, but we just have to learn from our mistakes.”
South Hills coach Brandon Gonzalez: “I told the kids before the game started that when you play a good team like we played today, it’s going to come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes. The way we started out wasn’t good. We made about three mistakes and they capitalized. But we didn’t give up and say the game’s over. We came back and tied it and went ahead.”
Bishop Amat coach Kristen Dedmon: “Bottom line, we didn’t do our job hitting the ball. My defense did a great job fielding the ball. My pitchers did their best, but bottom line, you have to hit. You have to score more runs than the other team. We’re going to continue working on that.”
Yankee Pool: La Serna, West Covina, Alhambra
Monday’s games
La Serna 3, West Covina 0
Tuesday’s games
West Covina vs. Alhambra, 3 p.m.
La Serna vs. Alhambra, 5 p.m.
Wrigley Pool: La Habra, Monrovia, Schurr
Monday’s game
La Habra 9, Monrovia 2
Tuesday’s games
Monrovia vs. Schurr, 3 p.m.
La Habra vs. Schurr, 5 p.m.
Edison Pool: St. Paul, Los Altos, Glendora
Monday’s game
St. Paul vs. Los Altos, 3 p.m.
Tuesday’s games
Los Altos vs. Glendora, 3 p.m.
St. Paul vs. Glendora, 5 p.m.
Tiger Pool: Claremont, Bonita, San Dimas
Monday’s games
Claremont vs. Bonita, 3 p.m.
San Dimas 7, Bonita 2
Tuesday’s game
Claremont vs. San Dimas, 3 p.m.
Fenway Pool: Covina, South Hills, Bishop Amat
Monday’s games
South Hills 8, Covina 1
South Hills 4, Bishop Amat 2
Tuesday’s game
Covina vs. Bishop Amat, 3 p.m.
Dodger Pool: Montclair, Northview, Charter Oak
Monday’s games
Montclair 11, Northview 2
Charter Oak 11, Northview 4
Tuesday’s game
Montclair vs. Charter Oak, 3 p.m.
