Atwater softball snaps losing streak against Merced

Cheyenne Mahy caught the final pop-up and tossed the ball in the air. The Atwater players stormed out of the dugout to celebrate a 2-0 softball win over Merced on Thursday afternoon at Atwater High.

The win was Atwater’s first over Merced since 2013 and snapped a 10-game losing streak to the Bears.

The monkey was finally stripped off the Falcons’ back.

“Absolutely,” Atwater coach Robert Santistevan said. “Great game.”

It wasn’t just beating Merced that had the Falcons posing for team pictures after the game. It was finally finding a way to hang a loss on Bears ace Madilyn Nickles, who has dominated Atwater – and just about every other team she’s faced – during her high school career.

Nickles has virtually been unhittable against the Falcons in her past six starts, tossing two no-hitters and six consecutive shutouts with 68 strikeouts in 42 innings.

“It’s fitting we finally beat her the last time we see her,” Santistevan said. “Our girls haven’t given up through all the years. Our girls just wanted it more today.”

It looked like the same old Nickles early as she retired the first 10 hitters and racked up 10 strikeouts through four innings. She extended her scoreless-inning streak against Atwater to 50 before the Falcons (12-6, 8-3 Central California Conference) broke through with two runs in the sixth inning.

Katlyn Lawrence reached on an error to start the inning for Atwater. Eileen Martinez then dropped a bunt and reached on an error that put runners on the corners with no outs. Melanie Valencia walked to load the bases.

“When we got the first runner on base that inning, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh. This could be our inning,’ ” Mahy said.

Brittany Massa made Merced pay for its mistakes with a sacrifice fly to left field to score pinch-runner Anjelica Uribe with the Falcons’ first run. Martinez added a second run when she scored on a wild pitch.

Mahy made sure the two runs were enough as she retired Merced in order in the seventh inning. The Falcons ace was brilliant, allowing only three hits while striking out nine. Mahy only allowed one runner to reach second base.

Mahy loves matching up against strong pitchers in big games.

“I was really fired up,” she said. “This is not a usual game. I think it gives you a little more heart. I knew it would be a really good pitchers duel. You even have to worry about Maddy as a hitter.”

Nickles only surrendered one hit, and it was a single to Mahy in the fourth inning. She finished with 13 strikeouts, but Merced will have to wait at least one more day before it can try to clinch at least a share of its sixth consecutive CCC championship.

The Bears (15-5, 10-1) host Pitman today at 4 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Falcons hope finally slaying Goliath will give them more confidence that will carry them toward the end of the regular season and into the playoffs.

“This should take us to a whole new level of confidence,” Santistevan said. “We were a confident team already, but now no matter who we face we’ll be ready.”

This story was originally published April 28, 2016 at 7:31 PM with the headline "Atwater softball snaps losing streak against Merced."