Mounties Force Seventh and Final Game
Live Broadcast of the 2014 CCCAA State Championship
By Andrew Wheeler, CCCFCA Sports Information
Bakersfield, CA -- The Mt. San Antonio College Mounties forced a seventh and final game on Sunday afternoon. The Mounties defeated Sierra College 4-3, to force the "if" game at the 2014 CCCAA State Softball Championships for the third straight year.
Mt. SAC struck first in the bottom of the first. Celina Felix hit her then third home run of the weekend, lacing a 1-1 pitch over the left field wall. Sierra would answer in the top of the second when Gabby Gonzalez followed up Kaitlyn Garcia's one out double to left field with a two run blast to left that temporarily put the Wolverines on top 2-1.
The lead didn't last long, as the Mounties came right back in the bottom of the second with two more scores. Charlotte Foster hit a two RBI single to right-center scoring Miranda Peralta and Brianna Gonzalez to put the Mounties back up 3-2.
After the offensive display in the first two innings, starting pitchers Kalyne Paque (21-2) and Sabrina Garcia (22-3) began to find a groove. Paque faced the minimum amount of batters in the third and fourth innings, while Garcia faced one over the minimum in the third, fourth, and fifth.
The Mounties added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Paque walked Felix to lead off the inning, and after Felix moved to second on a sacrifice from Alexandrea Simmons, Devin Vanderhoff brought her home with an RBI double to left-center.
That run would come in handy when Sierra made a charge in the top of the sixth, when the Wolverines loaded the bases up with just one out. The first batter in that spot popped up to shallow right-center, but the next batter hit a ball deep in the hole of the left side of the field. Simmons came up with the ball for the Mounties but her throw to second was late, allowing Ashleigh Stidman to score and make it 3-4.
The Wolverines would threaten again in the top of the seventh, when Sydni Scott led the inning off with a single to left-center. Scott would move to second on a sacrifice, but would stay there as Garcia got a pair of fly outs to center field to end the game.
With the win, Mt. SAC forces a seventh and final game on the weekend. Game time is set for 2:30 PM.