No. 9 hitter leads Foothill past Silverado

Amy Austin isn’t the typical No. 9 hitter.

In a spot normally reserved for a weaker hitter on a softball team, the Foothill catcher is thriving.

And she’s showing opponents she’s anything but weak.

“A lot of teams think the No. 9 hitter can’t hit,” Austin said. “I really like hitting there because a lot of teams take it for granted.”

Austin went 2-for-3 and drove in the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth inning of the Falcons’ 5-2 win over Silverado (8-8, 4-1 Southeast) on Wednesday, helping the Falcons (11-3, 4-0) take sole possession of the league lead.

“The last couple of games she has really come through with some nice hard hits,” Foothill coach Tom Mayes said. “A lot of teams try to hide people in that spot in the lineup. She can hit. All we want her to do is put the bat on the ball.”

With the game tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, Austin, who reached on an error and singled in her first two at-bats, came up with runners on first and third and no outs.

She fell behind 0-2, fouled off a pitch, then laced a single into right-center to score Kylee Taylor with the go-ahead run.

“I was waiting for that nice outside pitch, and right when she threw it to me, wow,” Austin said. “She threw it where I wanted it.”

Taylor began the inning with a double to the gap in right-center and moved to third on Lakeisha Guidry’s bunt single.

 

“Our seven and eight hitters, to me, are like our one and two hitters,” Mayes said. “If they can get on, Amy can move and advance people. If that works, we still have things going and now we start at the top of the lineup again.”

Myranda Mortel followed with a two-run single, giving the Falcons a three-run cushion.

It was more than enough for senior pitcher Shelbie Medrano, who tossed a four-hitter and struck out eight on 91 pitches. Both Silverado runs were unearned.

“She’s got a couple of pitches, and she can move the ball,” Mayes said. “She controls it really well. That makes her effective.”

Medrano had an RBI single in the first inning to give Foothill the lead. Taylor’s bases-loaded swinging bunt single in the third made it 2-0.

Silverado’s (8-8, 4-1) Taylor Vega scored on an error in the fifth inning, and Mayra Gomez came home on Amanda Delgado’s fielder’s choice to tie the game in the sixth.

Austin, Taylor and Mortel each had two hits for the Falcons.

Mikayla Thiegles was 2-for-3 for Silverado.