The Vikings defeated Chaffey College 8-5 at home with a come-from-behind win, securing their spot in the Super Regionals playoff round and repeating as Regional champions on Saturday.
On the mound was LBCC’s ace starting pitcher Ella Huago again for the second day in a row, but she would get into trouble as she gave up a grand slam to Chaffey’s power-hitting third baseman Fernanda Cano in the top of the first inning, making it 4-0 Chaffey, ending Huago’s day on the mound.
In relief came starting pitcher Adalise “AV” Valenzuela, as she pitched a dominant complete game for her team to stay in the game, only giving up one run in her heroic performance.
Shortstop Madison Fao would get the scoring for LBCC with an RBI groundout, driving in first baseman Natania Leomiti for their first run in the game.
Left fielder Ali Calderon would add another run, an RBI single with an error from Chaffey, moving Calderon to third and driving in third baseman Michelle Cervantes to make it 4-2 in the bottom of the second inning.
Center fielder Alesa Gonzalez added another run for the Vikings in the bottom of the second inning with an RBI sac bunt to Chaffey’s starting pitcher Mia Britt, driving in Calderon, followed by another run from Leomiti’s RBI single, evening up the game 4-4.
Gonzalez broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with a kerfuffle sequence, where errors were committed by Chaffey’s first baseman Britt and third baseman Cano, driving in Calderon and pinch runner Jeneva Fletcher, and Gonzalez scoring herself in to make it 7-4 Vikings.
Catcher Zara Mineo then added an insurance run with a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, making it 8-5, and completing the sweep of Chaffey, advancing to the Super Regionals round, and repeating as Regional champions.
Coach Megan Martinez gave her takeaways on the performances of outfielders Alesa Gonzalez and Ali Calderon.
“They are just so fast, and they had to really choose what the speed that we had going on and we knew that coming in, we wanted to play small ball a lot better and utilize the speed we have. So we were just really excited that the bottom of the lineup once again came through for us and put pressure on the (Chaffey’s) defense,” said Martinez.
Vikings softball players Ali Calderon, left, and Alesa Gonzalez, right, celebrate after Gonzalez hit a in the park home run during their game against Chaffey College on Saturday at the Vikings’ Softball Complex in Long Beach, Calif. (Alexandra Rios)
Left fielder Ali Calderon talked about her performance today that came up huge for her team.
“I became unselfish and I wanted to put my team first ahead of myself and I wanted to just get those runs and I ran no matter if it was an out or not. I just wanted to put that on base and put pressure, knowing my speed and knowing Gonzo behind me, we both have very good speeds, so whatever was the outcome, I just wanted to get on with my speed, I knew I could do it,” said Calderon.
Center fielder Alesa Gonzalez talked about her bat in the bottom of the fourth inning that gave the Vikings the lead.
“I was just thinking to get it (bunt) down, make sure it’s not directly at the pitcher, and then I wasn’t expecting them to mess up and for me to get on. But once I saw that no one was at second, I took off, then I saw the ball was behind third, so I left and then the ball went away again, so I kept going,” said Gonzalez
Vikings catcher Zara Mineo runs to home plate after she hit a home run against Chaffey College during the game on Saturday. (Alexandra Rios)
The Vikings will play on Friday against Mt. San Antonio, in the first game of the 3C2A SoCal Super Regional round.
The game starts at 4 p.m. and will be at Mt. San Antonio, and the competition will continue there on Saturday at 2 p.m..
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