Vaqueros drop two on final day of Bash at the Beach

SBCC suffered its first home defeats on Sunday on the final day of the Bash at the Beach softball tournament at Pershing Park.

Nelsa Delagente tossed a two-hitter, leading Saddleback to a 5-1 win in the morning game. The afternoon game was a nail-biter from start to finish as Fullerton rallied for a 3-2 victory.

The Vaqueros fell to 6-2 at home and 13-12 overall.

Saddleback and Fullerton shared the tourney title with 4-0 records in the eight-team, two-day event. SBCC, East L.A. and Taft went 2-2.

SBCC took a 1-0 lead in the first inning vs. Saddleback (14-9) as Sydney Townes walked, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Monica Salas' single to right-center.

The Gauchos tied it on a sacrifice fly in the second, then scored four times on four hits and a walk in the third. An RBI single by Haliegh Wilkerson gave them a 3-1 lead and the Vaqueros replaced starting pitcher Rebecca Pullen with Calista Wendell. Two more runs came in on a groundout by Delagente and an RBI single by Amanda Padilla.

Wendell pitched the rest of the way, holding the Gauchos scoreless on three hits in 4.2 innings. She also pitched all seven innings of the second game, giving up three runs on eight hits but also walking six, including five in the fifth and sixth innings.

"We came in flat for the first game and we should have been pumped up on Sunday when you're trying to continue the tradition of winning your own tournament," said coach Paula Congleton. "We really struggled against Saddleback.

"The second game was a great one. We have a friendly rivalry with Fullerton. It was good softball, we just made some mental mistakes on the basepaths and in the field. We had a few walks at inopportune times. Those are the things that are the difference between winning and losing."

The Vaqueros jumped ahead with another first-inning run against Fullerton (15-13). Townes led off with a single, went to second on a sacrifice by Lauren Hope Ballard and scored on single up the middle by Madison McNamee.

The Vaquero defense capped the first two innings with sharp double plays on a liner to Wendell, who doubled up the runner at first and another line drive that Alyssa Richter snagged at shortstop, then fired to Sloane Greeley at second for the double-up.

The Hornets tied it 1-1 in the fifth on a double by Amanda Guillen, a walk, a sacrifice bunt and two walks that forced in the run. The Vaqueros regained a 2-1 lead in their half of the fifth when they loaded the bases with two outs and Jasmine Manson drew a walk for an RBI.

Fullerton scored two in the sixth to take the lead. They loaded the bases on a walk and two singles, then Richter got a forceout at home plate. Natasha Trujillo walked with the bases loaded to tie it at 2, then Baylee Giordano singled to left center, scoring Guillen with the go-ahead run.

The Vaqueros had 13 hits and left 12 runners on-base in the second game, including nine in scoring position. Townes, McNamee, Salas, Richter and Greeley all had a pair of hits.

"If we had strung a couple of hits together here or there, it's a different game," noted Congleton. "Calista did a great job today and the whole weekend. All three of our pitchers did a phenomenal job in this tourney. We just have to put the other two pieces together to support them. One day, we'll have our offense, the next time we don't have defense. Our pitchers showed up all weekend but our hitters and defense were kind of scattered and that hurt us today."

The Vaqueros will play two WSC North games this week – Thursday at L.A. Pierce and Friday at home vs. Oxnard with both starting at 2:30 p.m.