The Falcons have had a successful season so far, with a season record of 18-5 and league record of 3-0. | Alderik van der Heyde |
It was the bottom of the 10th, and Torrey Pines was trailing by two runs, with two outs and the bases empty.
When Valentina Perrone stepped up to bat, the game seemed to be over in favor of Point Loma. Perrone hit a hard drive down toward third base to get on first, but it wasn’t until Stavi Augur slammed a miraculous home run deep over the left-field fence to tie the game that the Falcons realized they were back in it.
Torrey Pines took the 6-5 win over Point Loma shortly afterward, ending the three-hour, 10-inning battle between the teams.
Right after Augur’s run, Cassie Kaelber, Sydndy Poh and Makena Macias loaded the bases for Torrey Pines. The Falcons' Alex Reges hit a grounder straight past Point Loma’s shortstop and brought Kaelber in for the team’s sixth and final run.
“It was a great softball game,” head coach Jonathan Moore said. “We were down to our last strike in the bottom of the 10th inning, and Stavi hit a two-run homer to tie it. Then, Cassie got a single, and then Poh hit a single, and they intentionally walked Macias to load them up, and then Alex got the winning single.”
The game was tight from the very beginning, with neither team able to get on the scoreboard in the first two innings. Point Loma broke ahead by two runs in the top of the third with a home run, but Torrey Pines responded. Macias placed the ball deep between center and left field to bring Kristin Bitter and Kaelber home and tie up the game at 2-2.
In the sixth, the Pointers managed to get another run from a bunt with the bases loaded. When the Falcons went up to bat in the inning, Perrone smacked a grounder through the center of the diamond, and Bitter rounded third and slid home to again tie the game.
“We didn’t give up, and we stayed positive even though we had a couple of errors,” Reges said. “They definitely got in the heads of some batters and struck us out a couple times, but we came back.”
Going into extra innings with the 3-3 stalemate, Point Loma subbed in another pitcher while Falcons pitcher Kiley Rose stayed on the mound for all 10 innings. Despite a tough umpire with a relatively narrow strike zone — making her unable to throw her signature outside and low pitches — Rose kept a steady head and yielded hits for her teammates to easily field for outs.
“It was my game, so I didn’t want to [be switched out] because I wanted to finish it,” Rose said. “It was a big game, and I was like, ‘If I’ve already gone this far, I’m not going to just give up.’ So I just kept going, which is my mindset.”
The Falcons travel to La Costa Canyon on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m.
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