Atwater softball rides big first inning to easy win

Crooked numbers have been a rare sight for the Atwater softball team.

With junior ace Cheyenne Mahy in the circle and a stout defense backing her, runs are more of a luxury than a necessity. Still, with 11 of the Falcons’ last 12 contests decided by three runs or fewer, coach Robert Santistevan wouldn’t mind a few less nervy contests.

He got one Friday afternoon as Atwater jumped all over Pitman, batting around in the first inning. The Falcons sent 11 hitters to the plate in the inning, scoring seven runs. It was more than enough support for Mahy as Atwater cruised to an 11-2 home victory.

The win coupled with Buhach Colony’s loss to Merced puts the Falcons (9-6, 5-3) in second place in the Central California Conference, two games ahead of the Thunder (3-5) and one in front of Golden Valley (4-4).

“The last couple weeks, this team has been coming together more and more,” Santistevan said. “In that time, we’ve left I don’t know how many runners on base, so we were due for a big inning.

“Today was great. It gave us a chance to get firmly locked into second place. There was a crazy wind blowing, but when the girls get focused up like they were, things like that don’t bother them. It’s fun to see.”

A seven-run first inning for an offense that had mustered just five total runs in its last three games had to be pretty fun, too.

Eileen Martinez started the rally, reaching on a bunt single. Melanie Valencia (3 for 4, two runs) followed with a single, and Brittany Massa drew a walk to load the bases. Megan Escobar (2 for 4, two RBIs) opened the scoring with an RBI single. Maritza Iglesias forced in a run with a walk, and Katie Bettis and Marcie Vargas followed with run-scoring singles.

Martinez capped the rally, singling for the second time in the inning to drive in one. Two more runs came home when her hit rolled through the right fielder’s legs and to the fence.

“We’ve all been working really hard, and I feel like when you put in that kind of effort, you can do anything,” Martinez said. “We talked before the game about how we couldn’t have any distractions and got ourselves focused up. We knew an inning like that was coming, and everybody fed off of it.

“I think playing with the big lead, we were all more calm out there.”

There was a reason for the calm, with Mahy not yielding more than three runs in any game this season. She was sharp again on Friday, limiting Pitman (7-10, 2-6 CCC) to two runs on four hits and striking out nine.

Atwater put the game away in the sixth inning, pushing across three more runs. Escobar and Iglesias had run-scoring singles in the inning, each finishing with two RBIs.

Merced 21, Buhach Colony 0 in Atwater – Madilyn Nickles enjoyed the breezy afternoon, hitting two home runs in a Bears rout. The senior was 3 for 4 with six RBIs and struck out 10 in a five-inning two-hitter.

Ashlynn Chatham had three hits, including a triple, and drove in three for Merced (13-4, 8-0 CCC).

Golden Valley 1, Turlock 0 in Turlock – Marissa Bertuccio capped a stellar week with a shutout of the Bulldogs to give the Cougars (7-11, 4-4 CCC) sole possession of third place.

Golden Valley will have a chance to grab a share of second place when it hosts Atwater next week.

This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 8:05 PM with the headline "Atwater softball rides big first inning to easy win."