CHARGER INVITE: Patriots rebound for softball win

Liberty’s softball team hasn’t had much practice bouncing back from a loss.

 

The Patriots would like to keep it that way, but they showed Tuesday that rebounding from a difficult game is one of the team’s many strengths.
 

After an 11-2 loss to Vista (Calif.) in a morning game at the Charger Invitational at West Flamingo Park, Liberty refocused and beat nemesis Las Vegas 7-4 in a Bronze Bracket quarterfinal.
 

“We’ve just tried to keep a more positive approach with the girls,” Liberty coach Kris Jensen said. “We just focused more on this game and what we needed to do to win. We shouldn’t be able to tell intensity-wise if we’re up or down (in a game). We should just always be up.”
 

It’s a philosophy that helped Liberty improve to 13-2 and never trail in the evening game against the Wildcats, who eliminated Liberty from the Sunrise Region playoffs last year.
 

Rhiannon Beck set a tone by leading off the game with a single and scoring on Carson Cooper’s sacrifice fly, and Liberty responded by scoring in each half inning after Las Vegas scored.
 

After the Wildcats scored twice in the bottom of the third to tie the game, Liberty answered with an RBI double by Megan Patras and a run-scoring single by Francesca Foti in the top of the fourth.
 

Las Vegas pulled within 4-3 in the fifth, but Liberty responded with three runs in the sixth, highlighted by Foti’s two-run single. Foti finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs.
 

“She’s been a leader through her play,” Jensen said. “When she goes, we all go.”
 

Cooper was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and Patras went 2-for-3 with the RBI double.
 

Krizzel Galvez went 3-for-3 with two doubles, two runs and an RBI for the Wildcats (8-6), and Monique Hernandez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.
 

Despite finishing in a tie for first in its pool, Liberty was relegated to playing in the third-level bracket after losing a pool tiebreaker.
 

“We had one bad inning early today and now we’re in a third-place pool as a result,” Jensen said. “We took it all in stride. It’s a learning experience and an opportunity for us.”

 

In bracket play:
 

Cimarron Memorial 15, Kearny (Calif.) 1 — Cimarron scored 11 runs in the opening inning and cruised to the win in the Copper Bracket.
 

Carrie Sheehan tossed a one-hitter and struck out eight in getting the win. Sheehan and Samantha Valdez hit grand slams for the Spartans. Andrea Bishop also homered for Cimarron.
 

Valley 17, Ursuline (Calif.) 16 — Zoe Galindo’s two-run triple in the 10th inning ended the longest game of the tournament and moved Valley into the Bronze Bracket semifinals.
 

Valley rallied from a 7-2 deficit to force a 7-7 tie and extra innings.
 

After both teams scored three runs in the eighth and three more in the ninth, Ursuline added another three runs in the top of the 10th to take a 16-13 lead before Valley rallied with four in its half of the inning.
 

Galindo had three hits for the Vikings, and Lucelly Arias, Jasmine Villamar, Mickayla Romero and Nicholette Corona each added two.

 

Corona also had a two-run homer in the ninth.

Christian (Calif.) 15, Desert Oasis 3 — Jeannie Vest hit two home runs and had three RBIs to lead the Patriots past the Diamondbacks in the Bronze Bracket.
 

Christian smacked four home runs.
 

Valhalla (Calif.) 6, Green Valley 0 — Green Valley only managed three singles in a Gold Bracket quarterfinal.
 

Valhalla scored twice in the second inning and added three more runs in the fourth.
 

Mira Mesa (Calif.) 7, Durango 4 — Mira Mesa scored five runs in the bottom of the second and built a 7-0 lead before holding off a late Durango rally in the Silver Bracket.
 

Nicole Herrera and Jaexie Balilea each went 3-for-4 with a double for the Trailblazers.
 

Monte Vista (Calif.) 9, Clark 8 — Clark scored three runs in the top of the seventh, but couldn’t plate the equalizer in a Copper Bracket game.
 

Sydney Staresinich went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles for the Chargers, and teammate Shannon Chapman was 3-for-4.
 

In pool play:
 

Vista (Calif.) 11, Liberty 2 — Vista scored four runs in the first inning and broke open the game with five runs in the third on its way to the win.
 

Cooper went 1-for-1 with a triple, and Diana Cassaro was 1-for-2 with a double and a run scored for the Patriots.
 

Hilltop (Calif.) 2, Las Vegas 1 — Hilltop used a two-out RBI single in the top of the eighth inning to nip the Wildcats.
 

Ashly Westgarth’s sixth-inning home run accounted for the Wildcats’ lone score.
 

Green Valley 14, Christian (Calif.) 8 — Carly Smith hit a first-inning grand slam, and the bottom four spots in the Gators’ lineup combined for 10 RBIs in Green Valley’s win.
 

Desiree Laswell smacked a three-run homer, and Chelsea Anderson added a two-run shot for the Gators. Kayla Anderson was 2-for-3 with a double for Green Valley.
 

Valhalla (Calif.) 8, Desert Oasis 0 — Candice Stamper tossed a no-hitter against the Diamondbacks.
 

Stamper struck out 10 and faced two more than the minimum.
 

Otay Ranch (Calif.) 13, Clark 1 — Otay Ranch scored in each inning in downing the host Chargers.
 

Juliana Thornock scored the lone Charger run.
 

El Capitan (Calif.) 6, Clark 2 — The Chargers scored two runs in the opening inning, but El Capitan dominated the game the rest of the way.
 

Shannon Chapman and Anna Jaehn had the RBIs for Clark.

 

Carlsbad (Calif.) 8, Cimarron-Memorial 0 — Katie Wilkinson tossed a three-hitter as the Lancers defeated the Spartans.

 

Mater Dei (Calif.) 12, Valley 4 — Mater Dei ended the game on the run rule by scoring six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning.

 

Romero went 1-for-2 with a triple, a run and an RBI, and Autumn Williams finished 2-for-2 for Valley.

 

Santana (Calif.) 9, Durango 4 — Santana built an 8-0 lead after just three innings and held on to down the Trailblazers.

 

Taylor Short had two singles and an RBI for Durango.