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Softball: So Cal Roundup (4/18/18) There Can Be Only One in La Habra

Frankie Juarez of Sonora of La Habra. Photo/Manny Alvarez.

The So Cal Roundup for Wednesday, April 18.

With five of the six teams in the Freeway League battling for the league title, Frankie Juarez needed to step up after shoulder surgery.

The senior came in to pinch hit and delivered in the clutch with a two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning to lead Sonora of La Habra to a 3-2 come-from-behind victory over crosstown-rival La Habra on Wednesday at Sonora High.

It looked like the Highlanders, ranked No. 10 in the OC by So Cal Sidelines, was going to jump on Sonora (15-3, 2-1), ranked No. 15 in the OC, early after Gwen Helmer walked with the bases loaded, sending Boston College-commit Anissa Alatorre home. Long Island-bound Elena Valenzuela knocked in the second run thanks to an infield single off of Haylee Enriquez that drove Grand Canyon-bound Savannah Tourville home, but La Habra (11-4, 1-2) left the bases loaded in the first inning and left two more runners on base in the second inning. La Habra only got one more hit the rest of the game.

“We just had to stay up,” Juarez said. “The game is not over even though we were down, we never gave up. We just kept pushing through it. All I kept thinking was I have to do this for my team. My team is always behind me. It was my time to come back.”

The Raiders got on the board in the third inning thanks to a double by UC Santa Barbara-commit Maddie McNally that scored Raeleen Pelayo from first base. Sonora moved over the tying run to third base with a pair of sacrafices in the fourth and fifth inning, but failed to tie the game.

The third time was the charm for the Raiders after Haley Montoya was hit by the pitch. Montoya moved to third base thanks to an infield error that put Hope Warner at first base. UC Davis-bound Claudia Kim came in to run for Warner and stole second base with the pinch hitter Juarez at the plate. Juarez hit pastthe infield to center field for a double, which sent both Montoya and Kim home to give Sonora the lead and eventually the victory.

“We need to be a little stronger on the offensive side of the ball,” La Habra coach Kevin Helms said. “Determination is a key factor. We are a marked program here in the Freeway League and we have experienced success in seasons past. It’s tough to be that horse that is way in front of the race when everyone is reeling us in. We’re a marked team and we need to shoot for some more and put in some effort. We definitely have to keep that energy up. We look forward to bouncing back tomorrow. We will rebuilding and get back to where we need to and do what we need to do. I’m proud of my girls and even though in a loss, I still stand by them.”

The comeback victory gives the Raiders a boost after getting a wakeup call after a 3-0 loss to Fullerton last week. The victory is the perfect motivation in an unpredictable league where anyone has a chance.

“There isn’t an easy game in this league,” Sonora coach Michelle Rodriguez said. “The thing with La Habra is the rivalry first and foremost. We needed to get the girls to believe in themselves and play the way they know how to play. We are fairly young and some of the girls beat La Habra in JV last year, but their nerves still kick in. The loss to Fullerton was an eye opener, but it is really believing in ourselves that is going to get us through all these tough teams in our league.”

Alatorre went 2 for 4 with a double and Valenzuela went 1 for 2 with an RBI while throwing a complete game with three strikeouts and allowing four hits, three earned runs, three walks and two hit batters to take the loss for La Habra, which hosts Buena Park on Thursday.

“These girls are going to have to pick themselves up,” Helms said. “After a tough loss, they need to do what they need to do. I know we have the talent and the pieces here. I’m going to rely on my seniors and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s game.”

McNally went 2 for 2 with an RBI double while North Dakota State-commit Gaige Garcia got the win in three innings of relief for Sonora, which travels to Sunny Hills of Fullerton, ranked No. 6 in the OC and No. 20 in So Cal, on Thursday.

“We just have to keep up from today,” Juarez said. “We have to pick up where we left off tomorrow.”

By MANNY ALVAREZ

In the Avocado-West North County League:

Carlsbad 3, La Costa Canyon of Carlsbad 1: Alyssa Avalos went 1 for 3 with two RBI as the Lancers (8-3-1, 3-0), ranked No. 12 in San Diego, took care of the Mavericks (9-8, 2-1).

Torrey Pines 9, San Dieguito Academy of Encinitas 6

In the Baseline League:

Etiwanda 8, Upland 5: Michigan-commit Juju Jimenez went 2 for 3 with two homers as the Eagles (17-5, 2-2), ranked No. 9 in the IE, knocked off the Scots (12-5-1, 2-2), ranked No. 5 in the IE and No. 17 in So Cal.

Chino Hills 3, Los Osos of Rancho Cucamonga 0: Maryland-committed freshman Kendall Mangel threw a one-hitter with seven strikeouts, Long Island-bound Alyssa Martinez went 2 for 3 wih a double and two RBI, Long Island-bound Camryn Lyman went 2 for 4 with two runs and North Dakota-bound Kayleen Schneider went 2 for 3 with the Huskies (21-4, 4-0), ranked No. 2 in the IE and No. 9 in So Cal.

St. Lucy’s of Glendora 10, Rancho Cucamonga 0: McKenna Reyes threw a three-hit shutout, Kennesaw-bound Katie Greep went 3 for 4 with two RBI and made two great catches in the outfield, Long Island-bound Samantha Garcia went 2 for 3 with a double, a homer and four RBI and LSU-commit Raeleen Gutierrez went 2 for 4 witha double and two RBI for the Regents (9-11, 1-3).

In the Bay League:

Mira Costa of Manhattan Beach 15, Inglewood 0: Katie Gould went 3 for 3 with three runs, Serena Ponciano went 2 for 2 with a double, three runs and three RBI and Angel Santellan went 2 for 2 with a triple, a run and three RBI for the Mustangs (12-9-1, 3-0).

In the Big VIII League:

Norco 2, Centennial of Corona 1: Washington-commit Sarah Willis went 2 for 3 with a double and RBI and she tossed a complete game four-hitter with eight strikeouts to lift the Cougars (19-2, 5-0), ranked No. 1 in the IE and No. 4 in So Cal, over the Huskies (11-6, 2-2), ranked No. 17 in the IE.

King of Riverside 10, Corona 1: Michigan State-commit MacKenzie Meech went 3 for 4 with a two-run triple, Skidmore College-bound Megan White went 3 for 4 with a homer, Boston University-bound Bella Gargicevich-Almeida homered and drove in two runs, Arkansas-bound Larissa Cesena went 2 for 4 with an RBI and Iowa State-bound Mikayla Ramos doubled and drove in two runs for the Wolves (16-5, 3-2), ranked No. 6 in the IE.

Santiago of Corona 11, Roosevelt of Eastvale 6

In the Citrus Belt League:

Redlands East Valley 3, Redlands 1: Madison Ferrao went 2 for 3 with two RBI and Eve Harvey threw a six-hitter with two strikeouts to get the complete game win for the Wildcats (14-5, 6-0), ranked No. 7 in the IE.

Yucaipa 3, Carter of Rialto 1: Maine-bound Keely Clark went 2 for 3 with two RBI, Stanford-commit Sydnee Huff went 2 for 3 with two runs and sophomore Esperanza Coe struck out 10 to get the complete game win for the Thunderbirds (15-6, 5-1), ranked No. 8 in the IE.

In the City-Eastern League:

Clairemont of San Diego 6, Christian of El Cajon 2: San Diego Christian College-bound Maddy Jacobs hit a grand slam to power the Chieftains (12-3, 3-0), ranked No. 7 in San Diego.

In the City-Western League:

Cathedral Catholic of San Diego 9, Scripps Ranch of San Diego 1: Marisa Estrada went 2 for 3 with two runs and UCLA-bound Megan Faraimo hit a solo homer and picked up the win as the Dons (15-3, 2-0), ranked No. 1 in San Diego and No. 1 in So Cal, defeated the Falcons (9-7, 2-1), ranked No. 13 in San Diego.

In the Coastal Canyon League:

Camarillo 9, Moorpark 0

In the East Valley League:

Poly of Sun Valley 10, Verdugo Hills of Tujunga 3: Vivian Little went 3 for 5 with a double, a triple, two runs and two RBI and she tossed a complete game with 15 strikeouts as the Parrots (17-4, 6-2) defeated the Dons (6-5, 3-4) to help Coach Manny Peralta pick up his 300th career win.

In the Grossmont Hills League:

Granite Hills of El Cajon 12, West Hills of Santee 1: Cal State Fullerton-commit Staci Chambers, Hawaii-commit Haley Johnson and Amaya Esparza all homered and Chambers threw a three-hitter with six strikeouts to lead the Eagles (11-6, 2-0), ranked No. 10 in San Diego.

Santana of Santee 3, Steele Canyon of Spring Valley 0: Florida International-commit Madison Mendez pitched a four-hitter with 10 strikeouts and went 2 for 3 with an RBI for the Sultans (17-3, 3-0), ranked No. 8 in San Diego, in the win over the Cougars (14-6, 1-2), ranked No. 14 in San Diego.

In the Grossmont Valley League:

Valhalla of El Cajon 6, El Capitan of Lakeside 1: Kennedy Labshere went 1 for 4 with a run and two RBI as the Norsemen (7-9, 3-0) defeated the Vaqueros (8-5-1, 1-1).

In the Marine League:

Carson 10, Banning of Wilmington 0: Shannelle Sablan went 4 for 5 with a double, two runs and an RBI, Arianna Herrera went 2 for 5 with three RBI, Leilani Pulemau went 2 for 4 with a run and an RBI, Julie Espindola went 3 for 4 with two runs and Ashley Wies tossed a three-hitter with nine strikeouts to lead the Colts (16-7, 5-0) to the upset over the Pilots (15-6, 4-1), ranked No. 18 in LA, and sole possession of first place in league.

“This win will not only boost our rankings but definitely our confidence as a whole coming to the end of the regular season and into the playoffs,” Pulemau said. “Banning is a really good team with some great talent. Definitely, feels good, but now we got to put this game behind us and focus on our next opponent tomorrow.”

In the Orange Coast League:

Godinez of Santa Ana 24, Saddleback of Santa Ana 1

In the South Coast League:

San Clemente 6, Mission Viejo 3: Hawaii-bound Mikaela Mak connected on a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to help the Tritons (9-7, 2-1) break a 3-3 tie and beat the Diablos (10-6, 2-2), ranked No. 1 2in the OC.

In the Southwestern League:

Chaparral of Temecula 16, Murrieta Valley 2

In the Sunkist League:

Grand Terrace 11, Colton 0

In the West Valley League:

El Camino Real of Woodland Hills 18, Taft of Woodland Hills 0

Granada Hills Charter 13, Birmingham of Lake Balboa 0: Southern Oregon-bound Stephany Olmos hit for the cycle, scoring three runs and driving in three runs to lift the Highlanders (11-10-1, 4-3).

(NOTE: Send your scores, highlights, stats, pics and vids each night before 9:30 p.m. (the earlier the better) via email at carlos.arias@socalsidelines.com text at 949-606-3602 or Twitter @SoCalSidelines to be included in the So Cal Roundup)

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