A day after girls varsity softball steamrolled past Bonita a day prior, they continued the party the next day in their Thursday matchup against the Alta Loma Braves. On the mound for the Bulldogs was lefty senior Karson Zavala who struck out the side in the first to kick off the game on just 11 pitches.

Leading off the bottom of the first against sophomore Lola Prussak was senior Tehya Banks who, a day after going 3-3 with a triple, doubled past third to get into scoring position straight away. Sophomore Marisa Dominguez was penciled in second in the lineup and, while batting, saw an attempted pickoff at second by Alta Loma junior catcher Alyssa Pulicari which sailed into center field and allowed Banks to score for an early lead. Dominguez would single ahead of senior McKenzy Beccera who would do the same to put runners on first and second. 

Sophomore Taelor Walker would reach on an error at third base before senior Gigi Gonzalez would strike out with the bases loaded, only before sophomore Jordyn Balingit would ground into a fielder’s choice at home to keep the runners where they stood. Sophomore Aubrie Coletta would ground out to second to end the inning with just one run scored. 

Zavala would take the mound again for the second and set Alta Loma 4-6 hitters down in order with two strikeouts once again, still on only 12 pitches.

Consecutive walks to the 8 and 9 hitters in the Bulldogs lineup set up shop for Banks who would ground into a 6-5 fielder’s choice to swap batters at first and second. Dominguez singled and advanced on the throw from center to drive in the second run of the game. Beccera doubled in two more runs to double the lead and give Walker her second at-bat in two innings, in which she would fly out to left before Gonzalez drew a walk and Balingit grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning.

Alta Loma finally got some action after a hit-by-pitch and single put runners at first and second with nobody out. A wild pitch would advance both runners, however Zavala would strike out the next 2 batters before the #2 hitter would be ruled out for runners interference on a live ball to end the inning without a run scored.

Ayala would pick up right where they left off the inning prior in which they worked 24 pitches by following it up with two one-out singles to bring up Banks once again with two runners on base. This time, she would slap an inside pitch over the wall in left center for a three-run homerun to further increase the lead to 7-0. 2 more hits would come in the inning but none would score before the inning came to an end.

A two-out hit was all that Zavala allowed in the fourth along with back-end K’s to put her total at nine strikeouts through four innings while allowing two hits.

Balingit’s first hit to lead off the inning would be all for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the fourth before three straight groundouts ended the inning.

Unfortunately Alta Loma could not bring that momentum to the top of the fifth as Zavala struck out the side for a fantastic 12 K’s through five. 

The bottom of the fifth would go: lineout to second, hit-by-pitch, fielder’s choice 6-4, wild pitch and double from Walker to plate a tack-on run for the Bulldogs and match their run total from their last game. Another fielder’s choice would secure the third out of the fifth. 

Only the fourth time Alta Loma had reached base was when their leadoff hitter singled to start the top of the sixth; yet another fielder’s choice, this time 5-4, swapped runners at first ahead of another single that put runners on first and second, the only time Alta Loma would get multiple hits in an inning – Ayala would do so four times in a shortened game. Just as the previous five innings, Zavala would get out of it with another strikeout to her name, a dazzling 13 through six, finishing her line. 

Another single from Balingit to lead off the sixth would be followed up by a looking strikeout and, get this, another fielder’s choice, this time 4-6. The nine hitter, junior Ryanna Alano, singled to bring up, for the fifth time in the game, Tehya Banks who had two extra-base hits to that point.

And just her previous plate appearances, she laced a double which would have scored one if not for an error by the catcher allowing the second run to score, ending the game on a mercy rule score of 10-0. 

Our Bulldogs will have a full schedule this week due to rain delays, playing all week besides Monday. They’ll head to Glendora on Tuesday and Alta Loma will try to get back in the win column against Bonita on Monday.