Staff photo by Leo Jarzomb
Hi All:
I’m still not back in the office. I’ve been sick the past two days. But here is a story from our own Red Williams on La Serna’s win over Whittier Christian in softball on Tuesday.
WHITTIER – A pitching gem and explosive hitting proved to be the right formula for the La Serna High School softball team.
The Lancers’ Jamie Wren pitched a five-hitter to pace her team to a 6-1 victory Tuesday over visiting Whittier Christian.
Wren (5-2), a left-handed freshman, mixed her pitches well, using mostly her screwball and curve, and kept the potent Whittier Christian bats at bay.
The Heralds were unable to put more than one hit on the board in any inning and were shut out until they scored an unearned tally in the sixth. Wren gave up only one walk.
“Jamie pitched really well, and we had some timely hitting,” La Serna (7-5) coach Ginger Larsin said. “Everything came together pretty well.”
The big blow for the Lancers came in the third inning when they rallied for three runs, all after two were out, and sent eight batters to the plate.
After one out, ninth-place batter Denise Hernandez doubled past the right fielder. Danielle Garcielita then flied out to left, but Molly Bourne and A.J. Carrasco followed with back-to-back doubles over Heralds left fielder, Linh Blackney. La Serna’s Jackie Valdez then tripled to center to score the third run of the inning.
“That third inning did us in,” Whittier Christian (8-6) coach Dale Van Duyn said. “Right now we’re struggling at the plate, which probably had a lot to do with their pitcher. And our pitcher (Victoria Ayala ) wasn’t able to hit the corners like she usually does.”
The Lancers scored their first run in the second when senior third baseman Red Pichardo hit an inside-the-park homer in the gap in right-center.
“I caught hold of an outside pitch,” she said, “then just kept on running.”
La Serna finished their scoring with a pair of insurance runs in the sixth without benefit of a hit. A hit batsman (Dana De La Torre) and two-base error put runners on second and third with one out. Wren drove in De La Torre with an infield out and the other runner, Raeanne Martinez, running for Pichardo, came home on a passed ball.
Whittier Christian finally scored its only run in the sixth. With one out, Mandie Perez doubled against the fence in left, tagged up on a fly to center and scored when Pichardo couldn’t handle Katelyn Wagner’s hard-hit grounder.
The Heralds had a couple of defensive gems: a stretched-out catch by Reanna Lopez on a soft liner in the second frame and a running catch by center fielder Lauren Macias on a deep fly by Carley Espinoza.
“Those were great plays that probably kept us from scoring some more,” Larsin said.
