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By Sean Egle / Staff Photograher
Revenge (Allison Perez / Photo Editor)
By Sean Egle / Staff Photograher
The Riverside City College fastpitch team answered the call following a loss to Saddleback College, by beating undefeated Cypress College, 2-1, in extra innings of an Orange Empire Conference game at Evans Sports Complex on March 14.
Tigers’ infielder Courtney Brown sealed the victory with a walk-off single into right field to bring in outfielder Tylar Hyatt for the winning run.
“The team has been wanting to beat Cypress, we have this rivalry, so were just confident and ready to win the whole conference,” Brown said.
The game was important for both teams after they each took a share of the conference title last season.
“Coming into this game we knew it was going to be a battle, they are definitely a very competitive team and we feel we are right there with them,” said Michelle Daddona, Tigers’ fastpitch coach.
“Anytime you can pick up a win against Cypress, you are going to feel that you are moving in the right direction,” Daddona said. “We had a good look at them so we feel like we know what adjustments we need to make.”
RCC got revenge with the victory after the Chargers claimed a win over the Tigers, 5-1, in the conference opener back on the Feb. 16. Both teams are familiar with each other after both.
“We had a good look at them so we feel like we know what adjustments we need to make,” Daddona said.
After a strong three game winning streak going into the Saddleback game, the Tigers fell to the Gauchos, 12-6, on March 9. The Tigers conceded 12 runs and allowed 13 hits in a record high this season. Daddona said the team put out a great effort to try and rally back in later innings of the game.
“We had two competitive teams playing today,” she said. “We weren’t doing so well and then suddenly the quality at bats just started to add up.”
During the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tigers used 10 batters to score five runs, two were conceded by Gauchos’ errors and three from the Tigers’ hits.
Three walks by Gauchos pitcher Danielle Santos assisted the Tigers in their high scoring inning. The five runs put the Tigers ahead of Gauchos by a single run. Chelsea Rosario provided the Tigers with two hits.
Although Tigers’ relief pitcher Kendall Apodaca was not capable of stopping the Gauchos from answering back in the sixth inning. The Gauchos loaded the bases and went on to score four runs before adding another three in the seventh inning.
After keeping a close score, Saddleback broke ahead to a 9-6 lead in the sixth inning and coach Daddona said the Tigers lost their hold on the game.
“We went flat after that,” she said. “Almost as if we didn’t think we could win at that point.”
The Gauchos scored all of their runs in just three of the innings. After getting to an early 5-1 lead by the fourth inning, the Gauchos conceded another five runs before scoring another seven of their own.
With the Orange Empire Conference’s leading hitter, Christina Bolin on the Gauchos, she added to her hits total with a two-run home run in the third inning.
The Gauchos had lost the previous meeting early in the season in another conference matchup against the Tigers.
While the Tigers’ win over the Gauchos back in late February broke Gauchos’ win streak, the Gauchos did likewise to the Tigers’ in disrupting their winning momentum with the victory in this recent matchup.
