Live Oak defeated visiting Piedmont Hills, 6-4, in a Blossom Valley Athletic League Mount Hamilton Division softball game Friday afternoon. The Acorns (7-12, 2-4 BVAL-MH) won for the second day in a row after having beaten rival Sobrato on Thursday.
“I think the energy kept going from yesterday’s game to this game from the get-go. I think we died out a little bit, but then brought it back once the score got a little tighter,” said Live Oak coach Ron Lowery. “Overall good win. That’s another one under our belt; we’re happy about that.”
Piedmont Hills opened the scoring in the top of the first as Alexis Rojas hit an RBI single to knock in junior Kaitlyn Guevara, who had doubled.
The Acorns immediately responded with four runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 4-1 lead.
“In the first inning they scored four runs and that kind of hurt us right out of the gate; that’s the most runs we’ve given up all year long in the first inning,” Piedmont Hills coach John Ortega said. “That was really different for us. That never usually happens.”
Bre Sabala started off the inning with a double. Kate Guzman hit a single up the third base line and stole second. Rachel Ditta then singled to center to drive in two and make it 2-1. After a single by Tiffany Moore put two runners on, Khailyn Neumayer and Monet Percun drove them home with RBI singles to make it 4-1.
The bats stayed silent until the fourth inning when Piedmont Hills tightened up the score with a pair of runs to make it 4-3.
Shaye Felix stole second after being walked. Jackie Lucido hit a single up the third base line which advanced the Felix to third. Katie Ortega followed with an RBI single. The Pirates scored the second run of the inning on a groundout to make it 4-3.
“The girls made a little change in the middle of the game and they reacted well to it,” said Ortega. “So that brought more runs and we made a little bit of a comeback. Which was very positive for us, but we just couldn’t quite hold Live Oak down in the second to the last inning.”
“We got a little down because they scored a couple on us, but we got a pep talk from Rachel Ditta. We started getting our momentum back,” said sophomore catcher Tiffany Moore, who went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. “Right now I’m trying to get RBIs. I’m not thinking about me; I’m thinking about my team. I am just thinking about scoring runs and doing what’s best for the team.”
In the fifth, Live Oak scored two more runs when Ditta hit an RBI single after Sabala and Guzman walked. With one out, Moore bunted in a run to increase the lead to 6-3.
The Pirates closed the gap to 6-4 in the ninth. After Freddie Carrillo hit a bomb to right field for a double and Guevara hit a single to center, Melissa Estrada hit an RBI single. But the Acorns were able to hold on.
Piedmont Hills (6-8, 0-5) hosts Sobrato Tuesday, while Live Oak hosts Santa Teresa.
“The girls just keep gelling better and growing together,” said Lowery. “Things are coming together; I’m excited. We’re finally all on the same page; everybody has the same goals. We all got the same drive; that’s a winning situation right there.”
