Beatty’s two homers lead way for Palo Verde
The wind at Centennial’s softball field was howling from left to right on Saturday, threatening to zap power from right-handed hitters.
Palo Verde’s Cara Beatty found a way around that.
Beatty slammed two two-run homers, both toward right field, and the top-ranked Panthers scratched across a run in the seventh inning to claim a 5-4 road win over No. 8 Centennial.
“The wind did help a little bit with the way it was blowing, because it was blowing in if you hit it to left field,” Beatty said. “But if you looked to go right side, the ball was carrying.”
Beatty’s second homer came in the sixth after Centennial (17-10, 6-5 Division I Sunset League) had rallied for three runs in the fifth to take a 4-2 lead. Lauryn Barker led off the sixth with a line drive to left field. Centennial’s Angel Love charged hard, slipped and fell, and the ball dropped in for a leadoff double.
Beatty then blasted a homer just to the right of dead center field to tie the game.
“It’s someone different every day,” Palo Verde coach Kelly Glass said. “People tell me that all the time. Today it was Cara Beatty, and tomorrow it might be someone else. And that’s the wonderful thing about this program. You never know who it’s going to be.”
In the seventh, No. 8 hitter Jessica Nimmo had the big hit for the Panthers (19-4, 10-1). Nimmo, who was 2-for-2, led off with a triple off the fence in right.
One out later, Makall Whetten hit a fly ball to center field for the go-ahead sacrifice fly.
“She does a good job of battling,” Glass said of Nimmo. “Today, she had two really good at-bats. And Makall Whetten coming through with that sacrifice fly was huge. It was a selfless moment in the game.”
The Bulldogs made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh. Lina Barrera lined a single through the left side to lead off the inning. Love then hit a ball off the end of her bat that went about 7 feet. But the speedy Love turned the swinging bunt into an infield single.
One out later, Centennial coach Mike Livreri sent his runners on a double steal with No. 3 hitter Stephanie Day at the plate. Palo Verde catcher Grace Chavez fired a strike to Beatty at third to retire Barrera for the second out.
“I was so excited,” Beatty said. “That was such a good throw. It was perfect.”
Day then popped out to Kali Tomlinson at second base to end the game.
“We’ve been working on finishing a game and to be able to end with everything positive,” Glass said. “And today was the first time in a while that we’ve been able to do that.”
Day went 3-for-4, and Barrera and Love each had two hits for Centennial.
Contact prep sports editor Damon Seiters at 702-380-4587 or dseiters@reviewjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DamonSeiters