Local sports roundup: Monache softball sweeps

SOFTBALL
Monache 4-8,
SLOHS 2-2
It was a winning weekend for the Monache varsity softball team, which traveled to San Luis Obispo High School for a doubleheader against the Lady Tigers.

In their first victory, Tarah Patterson was the winning pitcher with a 3 1/3 inning effort from the pitching circle that saw her surrender just two hits and one earned run while striking out four.

Danielle Emerson had the save for the Lady Marauders, going 3 2/3 innings with a pair of strikeouts, giving up two hits and one unearned run.

Emerson’s bat was also big for Monache, as she was 3-for-4 at the plate with a double, a triple, two runs scored and a stolen base. Chrissy Lopez was 2-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and a run.
“Three runs in the first and we went from there,” said Monache coach Dave Koontz. “You couldn’t ask for a better game. Both teams played really well.

Monache was more dominant in the second game of the day, bringing home an 8-2 victory.
Emerson had a complete game effort in the pitching circle, giving up two unearned runs and striking out eight batters. At the plate she hit 2-for-4, bringing in two RBIs, scoring a run and picking up a triple.

Paige Simmonds was 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI, three runs scored and two bases stolen.
“They could not stop here,” Koontz said of Simmonds’ effort.

Patterson was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

“One in the first; five in the second,” Koontz said. “Just blew ‘em down. They were undefeated when we got there.”

HWHS 3-3, PHS 2-2
It was a disappointing doubleheader for the Panthers, as the Porterville varsity baseball team dropped two one-run games to Hanford West.

“They were two pretty well-played games,” said PHS coach A.J. Watts.

PHS opened scoring on the day, bringing in a first-inning run in their noon start, and managed to keep HWHS’s bats silent until the they tied the game in the third inning.

A pitching duel ensued, with neither team getting back on the board until the Panthers scored their second run in the top of the ninth inning. Unfortunately, Hanford answered back in the bottom of the frame to take the contest into extra innings. HWHS put it away with a single run in the bottom of the 11th inning to win.

Angel Flores took the mound for the Panthers for the first seven innings, and was relieved by Nick Haskins for the final four.

“Both threw pretty well,” said Watts.

It was PHS’s turn to play catch-up in the 3 o’clock game, as the Huskies scored runs in the bottom of the first and fourth innings. The Panthers put the first run on the board in the top of the fifth to narrow the gap to one run, but HWHS got their lead back in the bottom of the frame to make it 3-1. PHS put another run on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth, but the offense fell silent after that, giving the Huskies a 3-2 edge.

“In the second game, we hit good, just right at guys,” said Watts, whose squad faces another tough doubleheader at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Fowler.