The Live Oak softball team broke open a close game late and defeated host Sobrato 10-6 Thursday afternoon in a non-league matchup of Morgan Hill rivals.
The Acorns took control in the sixth inning and held on for the victory.
“We’ve wanted this game. We stayed focused and there was a lot of energy in our dugout today,” said Live Oak coach Ron Lowery. “Everybody was here to play ball.”
Live Oak started off the game well. Kate Guzman singled up the middle to start things off. Senior and four-year varsity player Rachel Ditta hit a line-drive double, putting two runners in scoring position.
Tiffany Moore hit a ground-out RBI, leaving Ditta on third. Then Hanna Doting hit an RBI single to right field to make it 2-0.
“I think it was everyone’s bats came alive. Everyone just started hitting; everyone had good hits,” said Ditta. “Line drives were good because it’s windy. Everyone started cheering and was happy that we at least got one run. It just escalated from there.”
The Bulldogs immediately responded by tying the score 2-2 in the second inning. Sophomore Mackenzie Mitchell hit a double to center field to start things off. Kallie Klinger hit an RBI double. Alyssa Jimenez then ran for Klinger and came home on Kasey Cockerill's triple.
The rivals ended the third inning in a 3-3 tie.
Sobrato pushed ahead 5-3 in the fifth inning. Sjostedt hit a single and stole second. Rooney walked and the runners advanced on a sacrifice fly. Morgan Martinelli hit a line drive double bringing in both base runners.
Live Oak's bats came alive in the sixth inning with four earned runs. Monet Percun hit a single to start things off. Julia Orona hit a double to center field, preceding Maison Lewis' RBI single. The game was tied at 5-5, but Live Oak wasn’t through.
Sophomore Bre Sabala hit a single up the middle with one out. Guzman singled to leave two runners on base. A ground out advanced the runners, who eventually scored on singles by Moore and Doting to give the Acorns a 7-5 lead.
Orona followed with a one-out single up the middle. Sabala advanced the runner to second with a single to the right side. Guzman hit an RBI double to increase the lead. Ditta hit another double, knocking in two runs.
The Acorns added three runs in the top of the seventh to increase the lead to 10-5. Sobrato rallied for a run in the bottom of the seventh on a bases-loaded single by Sydnee Sorce, but the Bulldogs were unable to complete the comeback.
Sobrato (8-9, 1-5) visits Piedmont Hills Tuesday, while Live Oak (6-12, 1-4) hosts Santa Teresa.
“We’re a young, growing team. We’re trying to do the best we can. (We're) working on pitching this year and we’re starting to hit the ball a lot better,” said Lowery. “We’ve been putting a lot of time in hitting and we’re starting to notice a change. Things are happening at the plate and it wins game for us.”
