Gauchos stay undefeated with good team win

Cassie Gasper is going to be nearly unhittable at times.

The El Capitan senior has already shown this repeatedly in the first three weeks of the season, recording three no-hitters, including a perfect game in just eight starts. But the Gauchos know if they’re going to make a splash in their first year of Central California Conference play, it’s going to take more than just Gasper’s big right arm.

Tuesday afternoon proved a good step in that direction, as Gasper’s dominance wasn’t as prevalent in the circle. For just the second time this season, Gasper yielded as many hits (six) as she had strikeouts (six) as visiting Patterson did a good job of putting balls in play. The Gaucho defense was up to the task, gobbling up everything hit their way. Toni Perez delivered a big three-run double and Taylor Mendoza drove in two more as El Capitan remained undefeated with a 5-3 victory over the Tigers.

“It was a good all-around team win,” El Capitan coach Megan Besecker said. “Cassie didn’t really dominate like she’s been doing and it was nice to see the other girls had her back. Our defense has been a question mark at times, but the girls were active and communicated with each other well.

“We’re going to need to win games like this, so this was a positive day.”

Like it did at the Rainbow Classic Tournament when the two teams met a few days before, Patterson (4-5) jumped out to the early lead.

Madison Gheen delivered a two-out, run-scoring single to right to put the Tigers up 1-0 in the second.

El Capitan (6-0-2) answered with a two-out rally of it own in the bottom of the third inning. Singles by Ariana Valenzuela and Aubrey Aponte and a Gasper walk loaded the bases for Toni Perez with two outs.

The senior catcher fell behind in the count, but apparently it was right where she wanted Patterson pitcher Alexis Zavala. Perez turned on a two-strike fastball and drilled a base-clearing double off of the center field fence. Taylor Mendoza followed with a single to drive in Perez, giving the Gauchos a 4-1 lead.

“My coaches told me to calm down,” Perez said. “I was a little too excited when I struck out the first time up. I was in two-strike mode and just looking to put something in play. Honestly, I should probably always go up in two-strike mode. I’m just more focused when I do.

“I had no idea where it went when I hit it. I just ran hard and saw my base coach wave me to second.”

Patterson chipped away at the lead with single runs in the fourth and fifth innings. A throwing error on a toss back to Gasper allowed one run to score and Sygna Tomasegovich singled in another.

It was as close as the Tigers would get.

A two-out infield single from Mendoza drove in a big insurance run in the fifth and Aponte came on in relief and retired all six batters she faced to earn the save.

“We aren’t trying to be too overzealous about our start to the season, but the kids are playing well,” Besecker said. “You can tell they’re excited as we get closer to league, and I think it’s why we’ve been doing so well, because they’ve been feeding off of that excitement and haven’t slowed down.”

This story was originally published March 14, 2017 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Gauchos stay undefeated with good team win."