At first glance, Dos Pueblos looked like it was going to kick off Spring Break with a barn-burner against defending Channel League softball champion Buena on Tuesday, but the Bulldogs scored twice in the third inning and kept adding layers to their safety blanket after that, eventually leaving Goleta with a 9-0 win.
Hannah Harris struck out five of the first six batters she faced and finished with nine Ks on the day, but Buena would end up with 11 hits while also capitalizing on three DP errors.
Hannah Harris struck out eight Bulldogs on Friday.
“Buena’s a really good hitting team as it is, and I’ve just been pitching a lot lately and was getting pretty tired. But that’s not an excuse,” said Harris, who leads the team in nearly every major offensive category as well. “They were just getting the bat on the ball and hitting the gaps.”
Coach Donn Roberts gave props to Harris for hanging tough despite getting barely any offensive support. The Chargers finished with just two singles against Buena starter Hannah Roberg.
“She’s a Warrior out there. Buena’s a hard-hitting team, and we needed to give her some more support. It’s kinda hard going in there and pitching when you’re three runs, five runs, eight runs down,” said Roberts.
Roberg also had a double and drove in three runs for the visitors.
Despite the three errors, DP managed a handful of top-notch plays in the field, including a diving snag by Kristen Kolegraff in left field to end the third. The visitors were up 2-0 and had the bases loaded, and if the ball had gotten by Kolegraff at least two more runs would have scored.
Chloe Madill also made a leaping, highlight-reel catch at shortstop with two runners on that ended a three-run sixth for the Bulldogs. Earlier in the inning, catcher Haley Peterson executed a perfect 2-3-2 double play with Ashlynd Williams at first base. Jordan Roberts also made a pair of nice defensive plays at second base.
“We had some moments of playing decent ball. We’re a very young team. We have seven or eight freshman on our team, and they’re just starting to come together,” said coach Roberts.
For now, Harris and Co. are looking forward to a week off from competition.
“I think it’s good, because I need to give my arm a rest and we’re going to get to have some practices,” she said.
The Chargers are now 2-7 overall and 1-2 in league while the Bulldogs are 5-3-1, 2-0.
BUENA 9, DOS PUEBLOS 0
Buena…002 033 1 — 9 11 1
Dos Pueblos…000 000 0 — 0 2 3
Roberg and Yanez. Harris and Peterson.
2B — B: Markman, Eason, Roberg, Burroughs, Yanez.
