On the first day of May, the Wilcox Chargers varsity softball squad had all the momentum on its side. After falling behind 3-1 early, Wilcox turned things around in the bottom of the second.
Chargers starting pitcher Tyler Scott found herself in quite the jam. She had two outs, but the bases were loaded and the Eagles’ No. 3 hitter, who had launched a two-run home run off Scott in the first inning, was up at the plate. To make matters worse, Scott fell behind in the count, 3-1.
The next pitch was poured in at the base of the strike zone for a called strike two. In a 3-2 count, Scott then blew her opponent away with a fastball up in the zone for a swinging strike three.
“I was pretty pumped in the dugout after that one,” admitted Scott on the game-changing strikeout. “I like to stay humble because I know things can change pretty fast, but that was a pretty big out for us.”
“She did an amazing job there,” chimed Chargers’ catcher Samantha Bianchi. “I think we called time in the middle of that at bat, and she told me to frame a little better. She criticizes me in a good way and makes me better. She makes me more humble; we work so well together. That strikeout was so fun. You could hear me yelling after that; I was just so proud of her. Ty did amazing in this game.”
That strikeout momentum carried over into the top of the third. Makaila Butler smoked a one-out double into the left-center-field gap. Scott then followed suit with a solid single up the middle. Bianchi then drove a sacrifice fly to deep left field, pulling the Chargers back within a run at 3-2.
A shut-down inning in the bottom of the third would be finished off by a strong throw from deep in the hole at shortstop from Butler, her throw just beating the runner at first. Scott’s quick, 1-2-3 inning in the circle allowed the Chargers to keep the momentum in the team’s dugout.
In the top of the fourth, a two-out rally looked promising for the Chargers. Izabella Arias singled up the middle. Leadoff hitter Evelyn Carter smoked a line drive down the right field line that put runners at the corners. Unfortunately for Wilcox fans, the Chargers couldn’t get that last money hit. The Eagles would maintain the lead and then add to it in the bottom of the fourth.
Multiple throwing errors by the Chargers defense helped the Eagles increase its lead to 5-2, seizing back all of the momentum.
“Essentially, we have to play almost error-free softball with where we are at right now,” acknowledged Wilcox Manager John Butler. “With how the season has gone, injuries and sickness and all the other things. We don’t have as deep of a team right now.”
Wilcox continued to battle, though, and in the top of the sixth, the bats hammered the ball four different times in play. Unfortunately, Jesika Souza’s scorching double to left center was the only one of the four that didn’t find a glove.
The Chargers will wrap up the league season with two games against Gunn, one against Milpitas and the season finale against Los Gatos on May 13.
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