by RAFAEL MARQUEZ
Travelling to Lobo field to face their cross-town rival, the Lady Lobos, in softball, the Lady Rebels came back victorious again – Hays 7, Lehman 1.
Sophomore pitcher Erin Mendoza started on the mound for Lehman squaring off against Hays for the first time of her career. Angel Cruz, the regular Lehman pitcher, started off in right field. Lehman head coach Bill Holmes said he wanted to show Hays “something different... Erin [Mendoza] throws the ball a little harder, and she has a bit more of a drop off in her pitch.”
Hays’ first batter, short stop Maddy Shannon, hit a triple and later got pushed home by Hannah Ramsey’s fly ball. Clarissa Gonzalez also hit a triple and later scored, thanks to Mendoza walking Karina Rocha.
Lehman’s pitcher Mendoza had some difficulty finding the strike zone, and ended up walking three batters. The Lady Rebels scored two more times, bringing the total scored to four runs in their opening turn at bat.
Lehman answered with some offense, getting runners on base for the first time this year against Hays’ pitcher Sarah Leal. Jess Gonzalez and Clarissa Rayos each hit singles to get on base. But, Lehman was not be able to produce a run and both runners were left on.
The next three batters that Hays sent up, came right back down thanks to some very good fielding by the Lehman defense.
During Lehman’s turn at bat at the bottom of the second inning, with one out already on the board, Angel Cruz was walked. Alexis Trotter attempted a bunt, but the ball went up in the air where it could be fielded. Cruz was also thrown out at first and that ended the inning for the Lady Lobos.
During their turns at bat, the Lehman players had issues with their bunts going up in the air where they could be fielded, instead of first bouncing off the ground. The bunt issue would plague Lehman throughout the game.
Hays didn’t score again until the top of the fourth inning. Karina Rocha was on third base after stealing second and benefitted from a poor throwing decision by Jules Hernandez. Rocha went home on the bat of Gabi Albarez.
The inning would end – Hays 5, Lehman 0.
In the fifth inning, Lehman replaced Erin Mendoza at the mound with Angel Cruz, who gave up two runs by Hannah Ramsey and Clarissa Gonzalez.
At Lehman’s turn at bat, two runners were left on base. At the bottom of the fifth inning, the score stood at Hays 7, Lehman 0.
Lehman continued to find their defensive legs, and did not allow Hays to score any more runs for the remainder of the game.
Lehman scored one run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Clarissa Rayos and Loren Pizzini were on base when Jules Hernandez came to bat. Hernandez hit a double that allowed Rayos to score Lehman’s only run of the game.
The final score was Hays 7, Lehman 1.
