Golden Valley soccer rallies to beat Merced

Sara Callister hit Merced with a flurry of goals midway through the second half as the Golden Valley girls soccer team erased a two-goal deficit to defeat the Bears 4-3 on Wednesday afternoon at Veterans Stadium.

Niccole Salm scored from the wing just outside the 18-yard box to give Merced (2-3 Central California Conference) a 3-1 lead midway through the second half. Callister then took over.

On the ensuing kickoff, Alexandra Eber passed to Callister, who dribbled the length of the field and scored to cut the lead to 3-2. A Merced handball led to a penalty kick by Callister, who connected to tie the game at 3-3.

Moments later, Brittany Cervantes delivered a through ball to Callister, who delivered a shot past a diving Jessica McClesky (12 saves) in goal for the go-ahead goal with in the 68th minute.

“We had loads of chances,” said Cougars coach Lee Shaw, whose team improved to 4-1 in the CCC. “Their goalie was the standout player for them for sure. She made three one-on-one saves in the first half. We just had to keep doing what we were doing and take advantage of our chances.”

Merced couldn’t help but feel it let one get away.

“We’ve just been very inconsistent,” Bears coach Brooke Wilson said. “That’s been our weakest link lately. We have flashes of really great play, really great practices. We just can’t put it together for 80 straight minutes. Those lapses have been huge.”

Softball

Le Grand 27, Denair 1

LE GRAND -- The Bulldogs took advantage of 13 walks and 10 errors by the Coyotes as they improved to 5-2 overall and 3-0 in the Southern League.

Kinsey Haas, Savanna Barnett, Shelby Barraza, Rebecca Nichols and Katelyn Grinder all had two hits for Le Grand.

Baseball

Turlock 3, Merced 1

TURLOCK -- The Bulldogs (9-1, 3-0 CCC) scored three unearned runs in the bottom of the third inning to hand the Bears their first CCC loss.

Nick Voumard pitched six innings to earn the victory.

Atwater 5, Golden Valley 2

ATWATER -- Tyler Zeller pitched a complete game, scattering seven hits as the Falcons improved to 1-2 in the CCC. Izzak Hurtado and Ryan Sanchez each had two hits for Atwater.

Buhach Colony 2, Pitman 0

ATWATER -- Kaden Verdin pitched a three-hit shutout as the Thunder (6-5, 1-2 CCC) won a pitching duel against Pride ace Jordan Gonzales.

Daulton Jefferies sparked Buhach Colony with a pair of hits, two stolen bases and both runs scored.