Alyssa Coulter does not mess around when she steps to the plate to hit.
There is no prolonged stare at the base coach, no adjusting of the socks and batting gloves or multiple practice swings.
Coulter is up there just to hit and that's what the Mills standout did in the sixth inning of Monday's wind-blown 9-6 victory against San Mateo.
The left-handed batter's three-run triple to right field highlighted an eight-run Mills rally as the Vikings came from behind to defeat the Bearcats in a Peninsula Athletic League-Ocean game.
"I was just hoping it wouldn't go like my three previous at-bats where I grounded out," Coulter said. "I needed to adjust and hit the ball. I swung late on the three at-bats before, so I knew I needed to swing earlier. The wind was blowing toward right field, so I used that to my advantage."
Mills entered its half of the sixth trailing San Mateo 6-1 after the Bearcats scored four in the top of the sixth, paced by a bases-loaded walk to Nichole Chiu and a two-run single by Taylor Doi.
Then the Vikings finally heated up in the biting cold and wind of a blustery Millbrae afternoon.
Five of the first six batters in the bottom in the bottom of the sixth reached base safely, including Rochelle Manila, who hit a two-run double to center field. The Vikings also got singles from Sara Cisneros and Janelle Lee in the inning, preceding Coulter's big blast which made the score 7-6 Mills.
Adrienne Coulter -- Alyssa's identical twin sister -- then added a run-scoring single and Sara Cisneros collected her second hit of the inning, an RBI triple, to end the scoring.
By the end of the inning, 12 Mills players had batted and 10 of them reached base.
Explaining Mills' malaise before the sixth, Viking coach Eric Lacayo said: "We were just kind of going through the motions a little bit -- par for the course with cold weather. We didn't come out hitting as strong as we did toward the end of the game, obviously.
"(Alyssa) and her sister are two of the more experienced players on the team. They've been playing almost all year round since they were 8. It's just (a matter of) confidence. When they know something needs to be done, they come through every single time."
Until the sixth, San Mateo had things its way behind the strong pitching of Gena Titus and some timely hitting.
Raisa Magro's triple to right field scored Doi who had walked in the first inning. In the fourth, Alyssa Waller's single to right field drove home Christina Dressel who had walked and was sacrificed to second by Breana Picchi.
San Mateo's three-run top of the sixth seemed to clinch the game for the Bearcats until Mills emerged from the deep freeze in the bottom of the inning.
Sara Cisneros pitched a complete game for Mills, allowing five hits, striking out three and walking eight.
Adrienne Coulter, Sara Cisneros and Manila led Mills with two hits apiece.
The victory keeps Mills (11-4 overall, 5-1 PAL-Ocean) one-half game behind first-place Woodside (15-4-1, 5-0) in the league standings. Mills forfeited to Woodside on March 22 for reasons that remain unclear at the time of publication.
San Mateo (4-5, 3-2) fell two games behind Woodside with the setback to Mills.
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John Murphy may be reached at jmurphy@Prep2Prep.com and followed on Twitter @PrepCat
