Gauchos ride Gasper to softball win

The Western Athletic Conference softball season promises to be a dogfight.

Five quality teams will compete for the league’s three playoff spots, leaving little margin for error. The competition is so tight that a bad start might doom a team’s prospects. That was a point of emphasis for El Capitan entering Tuesday afternoon’s game against Pacheco on the heels of a WAC-opening loss to Los Banos.

Cassie Gasper answered the call. The junior pitcher was dominant, not allowing a hit until the sixth inning. She finished with a two-hitter and 11 strikeouts and added two hits and an RBI as host El Capitan rallied for a 6-3 victory over Pacheco.

“We definitely talked about how we couldn’t start league 0-2,” Gauchos coach Megan Besecker said. “We kind of let the Los Banos game get away from us, and we wanted to have a better performance against Pacheco. It turned out to be kind of an ugly win, but you’ll take those.

“We just need to be a little cleaner defensively and we’ll be in good shape.”

Neither coach was expecting a pretty victory on a blustery afternoon with a strong wind blowing in from right field. The wind didn’t prove to be much of a factor, however, as both teams struggled to get the ball in the air.

It was the small-ball hits and misses that proved the difference.

Pacheco’s Sammy Jacquez started the scoring in the first without the ball leaving the infield. The shortstop reached on an error and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jacquez stole third and scored when the ball kicked away from the third baseman for a 1-0 lead.

The Panthers (4-3-1, 1-1 WAC) had an opportunity to expand the lead in the fourth when Shyanne Vargas reached third on a throwing error and a wild pitch. Gasper responded with back-to-back strikeouts and a ground ball to short to escape unscathed.

Gasper rode the momentum into the bottom of the inning, leading off with a double. Lauren Boggs walked and Mari Munoz loaded the bases with no outs when her sacrifice bunt attempt was booted.

Toni Perez (two RBIs) and Aubrey Aponte (3 for 3) singled in runs and McKenzie Schumacher (2 for 3) added a third with a groundout as the Gauchos took a 3-1 lead.

“I told the kids yesterday that I didn’t want this game to come down to a bunt, but it kind of did,” Panthers coach Charlie Pikas said. “We have a runner on third and no outs and can’t get a ball in play. We miss on a squeeze. Then we don’t field that sacrifice bunt and open the door for them to get a couple extra runs.

“That’s a major swing you can’t afford against good teams.”

El Capitan (5-2-1, 1-1) cashed in on two hit batters to open the fifth. A Munoz single and a Perez fielder’s choice pushed across two runs as El Capitan took a 5-1 lead.

That was all the support Gasper needed. Atley Snapp’s slap-infield single broke up the no-hit bid in the sixth, and Kayla Valdez added a single up the box in the seventh as Pacheco scored once in each inning.

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Gauchos ride Gasper to softball win."