The Vikings won the game 6-4 against Chaffey College in its first matchup out of best of three in Regionals on Friday.
LBCC’s ace starting pitcher Ella Huago was on the mound today to start off the first matchup while Chaffey’s starting pitcher was Bryanna Ortega.
Outfielder Lela Asi started the scoring with an RBI sac fly to drive in catcher Zara Mineo making it 1-0, followed by an RBI single from third baseman Michelle Cervantes to drive in designated hitter Mikaela Pacheco, making it 2-0 in the bottom of the second inning.
Chaffey’s third baseman Fernanda Cano would then hit a two run home run off Huago, evening up the scoring at two in the top of the third inning.
Cervantes would eventually break up the tie with a three run homer to left field, making it 5-2 for the Vikings in the bottom of third inning.
Asi would then drive in another run due to a hit by pitch, scoring Mineo to extend their lead 6-2.
Huago would get into some trouble after giving up a two run double to Chaffey’s second baseman Micayla Arreola in the top of the sixth inning.
LBCC Vikings’ catcher Zara Mineo hits against Chaffey College Friday. The Vikings came out on top with a 6-4 win in a best of three regional playoff. (Jacyn King)
Huago pitched a complete game with a win for the team to take a 1-0 lead in the series, and talked about her performance on the mound.
“I just have to make sure I don’t pitch it on the plate. Once I started kind of hanging the corners again, and they just weren’t hitting it as well, which was really good, because a couple of middle innings, I was throwing it off the plate, but once I started hitting the corners, it was good,” said Huago.
Vikings third baseman Michelle Cervantes talked about her three-run home run that made the difference in the win for her team, as she drove in four out of the six runs for LBCC.
“In the bottom of the third during that at bat, I was really just looking for a pitch that I can get in the gap somewhere to push in those runs. Luckily, I just happened to get a hold of that one and it produced three runs, so I was just super excited to get that done for the team,” said Cervantes.
Coach Megan Martinez talked about how her team was preparing their mindset coming into Friday’s game against Chaffey.
“We play every single game like it’s a national championship, and we prepare every single game the same way, and we approach every opponent like we’re defending a national championship. We just want to make sure that all our efforts are not in vain, and we know that this is the best part of the season, and we want to make sure that our hard work was something that we got to enjoy it, and so we want to make sure we get all the way to the state tournament,” said Martinez.
LBCC Vikings’ pitcher Ella Haugo throws a pitch against Chaffey College during a regional playoff game Friday. The Vikings won 6-4 in a best of three series. (Jacyn King)
LBCC will be playing their second match of Regionals against Chaffey on Saturday, May 2, at 12 P.M., hoping to win this match and advance to the next round.
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