Maybe it was the heat, maybe the game it played the day before, but Montebello’s softball team had little energy to open Tuesday’s Almont League game against visiting Bell Gardens.
The Oilers easily won the game, 11-1, in five mercy rule-shortened innings, but they lacked the spark early in the game that had led them to eight consecutive victories. A base-running mistake cost them a chance to score in the first inning, and they scored just once in the second after the first two batters reached base, eventually leaving the bases loaded.
“The whole game was so lethargic,” said Montebello coach Laurie Capps. “It felt like, not going through the motions, but we weren’t as up as usual. It took us a long time to get started.”
The Oilers (14-6, 5-0) found some life after the first two innings, scoring 10 times from the third to the fifth. The game was called in the fifth after Victoria Alvarez’s RBI single gave Montebello a 10-run lead.
On Thursday, the Oilers will visit Mark Keppel.