Arabians start season with win over Pleasanton

Arabian batter Amanda Wilson gets a hit as Korin Stehle watches from third base. Photo by Sonia Villarreal.

The Varsity Arabians kicked off the softball season in style with a 10-8 win over the Pleasanton Lady Eagles last Tuesday, Feb. 14.
Pleasanton opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning, using a triple and a single to push a run across the plate for what would be their only lead of the game.
The Arabians batted around in the top of the inning, scoring six times. Brittany Jay, Jaylyn Stewart, and Amanda Wilson hit three straight singles to load the bases, and Brooklyn Anderson knocked in Jay and Stewart with a single of her own. Wilson scored on a single by Kendall Arche, Anderson scored on an error, and after Arche advanced to second on a fielder’s choice by Kim Freeman, Taylor Carr reached first on an error that allowed Arche to score and put Devine up 5-0.
Julie Ortiz singled in Carr for a 6-0 lead and took second on an error on a ball put into play by Korin Stehle. Ortiz was then picked off at second and Jay grounded out to third to end the inning.
The Lady Eagles were held scoreless again in the bottom of the second, and Devine pushed across another run in the top of the third when Stewart singled and advanced to third thanks to an error on a ball put into play by Wilson. Stewart scored later in the inning for a 7-0 lead.
The teams traded runs throughout the game until the seventh inning, when Pleasanton tried to mount a rally.
Despite being held scoreless in the top of the seventh inning–the first time they’d failed to score since going down in order to lead off the game–Devine still had a healthy 10-5 lead heading into the final half-inning of the contest.
Pleasanton’s attempt at a comeback got off to an inauspicious start as their ninth-hole batter popped up to shortstop Carr for the first out. The Lady Eagles’ leadoff followed that up with a single and stole second base before Arabian pitcher Wilson struck out the second batter to put Devine an out away from the win. The next batter drew a walk to put two runners on, the cleanup batter banged out a double to drive in the runner on second to pull Pleasanton to 10-6 with two on. A second consecutive double drove in two more runs to cut Devine’s lead to 10-8.
Facing the tying run with a runner already in scoring position, Wilson struck out the Lady Eagle batter looking to preserve Devine’s 10-8 win.
Batting: Carr 0-5, 1 run, 1 RBI; Ortiz 1-5, 1 RBI; Stehle 0-3, 1 BB; Jay 2-4, 1 RBI; Stewart, 2-4, 1 RBI; Wilson, 2-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB; Anderson 2-4, 2 RBI; Arche 3-4, 1 RBI, 1 SB; Freeman 0-3; Jessie Ramirez 0-1.
Pitching: Wilson 7 IP, 7 ER, 10 hits, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts.

By Marly Davis
Staff Writer

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