Lady Patriots record 11 straight hits in third, fourth innings
The Miyamura Lady Patriots used strong performances in the third and fourth innings to put away the St. Michaels Lady Cardinals 17-7 March 31 in a varsity softball game at Ford Canyon park.
The game was part of the Wingate Tournament. There were six teams that played in the tournament.
The score of the game was 3-2 in the top of the third with St. Michaels leading. Then the Lady Patriots got hot at the bat and recorded eleven straight hits off of relief pitcher Amaya Joe.
Freshman Lakisha Shorty started off the slew of hits by Miyamura. Shorty hit a triple to left field and brought in fellow freshman infielder Shelby Silva and senior first baseman and relief pitcher Mikayla Livingston.
By the time the third inning ended, the Lady Patriots scored enough runs to give themselves an 8-3 lead.
“The bats got hot and we just kept it up,” Miyamura head coach Santiago Montano said. “I saw that everybody who got to the plate to hit actually got a hit. I think we had one player who didn’t get out of that third and fourth innings without a hit.”
With the Lady Cardinals (6-3, 2-0) giving up six runs by the time the fourth inning ended, St. Michaels head coach Karen Tom said she knew it was going to be tough making it a competitive game again.
The Lady Cardinals played two pitchers through five innings, but couldn’t seem to get the right players in the game at the right times.
“We gave up way too many hits in those two innings and that was the difference in the outcome of the game,” Tom said. “You can’t give up that many hits and runs and expect to come away a winner.”
The Lady Cardinals scored a run in the fourth inning by junior Kylea Monroe and it looked as though the game was going to take on a different meaning. But Miyamura clamped down on defense and upped its defensive stance and held St. Michaels’ hitters to a minimal amount of offense.
Pitching Errors Doom St. Michael
One thing that consistently kept the Lady Patriots (6-4) in the scoring column was pitching errors committed by St. Michael. Sophomore catcher Shelby Cordova of the Lady Patriots came home when the St. Michael pitcher threw a wild pitch that missed the catcher. Silva scored again and the Lady Patriots looked like they were waiting the game out.
The Lady Patriots continued to pour it on with junior outfielder Raylyn Billy, freshman centerfielder Francesca Chioda and senior Alysha Mecale either scoring on their own or recording RBIs.
Montano noted that nearly everyone on the Miyamura team played themselves into such a comfort zone on offense and defense that the team committed few errors. The sole thing that stopped the Lady Patriots from topping the 20-run mark was a dispute over how many runs the Lady Patriots recorded in the fifth inning.
Short was 3-for-3 at bat with 2 RBIs. Livingston started at pitcher for Miyamura and ended with five strikeouts and a walk.
By Bernie Dotson
For the Sun