San Marcos freshman Hannah Ball hit a third-inning grand slam on Friday and the Royals went on to mercy-rule host Santa Barbara 11-0 in a crosstown softball matchup.
Kelly McKay, who pitched a complete game in San Marcos’ win over the Dons on Tuesday, gave up a leadoff triple to Santa Barbara’s Mary Ann Giles in the first inning on Friday but escaped the inning unscathed and ended up with the shutout.
Dons catcher Sheila Lopez tries to block the plate from San Marcos' Hannah Ball.
San Marcos' Hannah Ball makes solid contact on her home run swing in the third inning
San Marcos starting pitcher Kelly McKay picked up her second victory of the week in the pitcher's circle.
(Photos By Vince Agapito)
Leanne Fretz led of the top of the third with a double. A walk and a bunt single then loaded the bases, and a wild pitch allowed the first run to score. Jenise Fretz walked to load the bases again, and Ball nailed one deep over the fence to make it 5-0.
“She’s extremely strong and covers the strike zone really well,” said coach Alex Sheldon. “People have realized how good she is and have started to pitch around her, so it was good for us that the bases were loaded.”
Things went from bad to worse for the Dons in the fifth, as a pair of San Marcos hits snowballed with a couple of errors and the Royals tacked on six more runs. McKay finished with a hit and a run scored while striking out two and walking one, facing just two batters over the minimum.
San Marcos (6-7, 2-3) has six league games left and will have to win at least three, maybe more, to have a shot at the playoffs. Santa Barbara is now 2-8, 1-4.
SAN MARCOS 11, SANTA BARBARA 0 (5 inn.)
San Marcos…005 06 — 11 6 1
Santa Barbara…000 00 — 0 2 2
McKay and Flattery. Neilsen-Robbins, Rodman (3) and Lopez.
2B — SM: LFretz. 3B — SB: GIles. HR — SM: Ball (3rd inn., grand slam).
