In its biggest league game of the year, the Dos Pueblos softball team put together a solid performance and beat visiting Buena 3-0 to put itself in the driver’s seat for a Channel League title.
Amber Altavilla scored on a wild pitch and Agnetta Cleland singled home two runs in the third inning as the Chargers improved to 9-0 in league (15-8 overall) and took a two-game lead over the second-place Bulldogs (7-2, 13-1) with three games to play.
The teams play again on Thursday at Buena.
Pitcher Hannah Harris scattered six hits and got tremendous play from her defense to earn the shutout.
“It was probably our biggest win of the season,” said Harris, who struck out only three but kept Buena’s offense in check with some clutch pitches. “We’ve been looking forward to this game ever since we started in the fall. That was the one big thing we wanted to do this year, beat Buena to win league.”
Harris was in a scoreless duel with Buena’s Annalise Lopez until the third inning when the Chargers struck for all of their runs.
Altavilla started things with a one-out single to center field. She was sacrificed to second by Chloe Madill and moved to third on an infield single by Harris. Jordan Roberts drew a walk and the ball got away from Buena’s catcher on ball four, allowing Altavilla to score.
Cleland then dropped a ball over the second baseman to drive in Harris and Roberts for a 3-0 lead. Cleland ended up on second base.
“It was pretty lucky. It was a lucky drop-in single,” she said. “I was trying to go to right field. I’m a pull hitter, but with runners at second and third I was trying to go to the right side.”
Cleland’s hit took a lot of pressure of Harris.
“Oh, my gosh, I was so relieved because that takes so much pressure off me when I’m pitching,” Harris said. “It makes me more relaxed. The whole energy changed when we got those runs.”
“She’s been doing that a lot for us,” DP coach Donn Roberts said of the Cleland’s clutch hit.
Marisa Radeke had a good day at the plate for the Chargers, going 3-for-3 with a double
The Chargers had chances to blow the game open, but they stranded two runners in the fifth inning and had two runners thrown out at the plate in the sixth,
But Harris and the DP defense made the three runs stand up.
Second baseman Jordan Roberts came up with a big play in the sixth inning. With Lindsey Dietz at third and one out, Lexie Jacoby of the Buena hit a low liner toward second. Roberts caught the ball and then fired a bullet to third baseman Marisa Radeke, who tagged Dietz to complete a double play.
“That was a great play,” said Harris. “They were hitting my pitches, and that made a quick three outs and we were back in the dugout to try and score more runs.”
“Roberts was on her game there,” said coach Roberts, her father. “All in all, the defense executed well and Hannah pitched a great game for us — another shutout — when it mattered, heavy pressure. A big one.”
Buena…000 000 0 — 0 6 1
Dos Pueblos…003 000 x — 3 10 1
Lopez and Yanez; Harris and Peterson. W—Harris. L—Peterson.
2B—B: Lopez, Georges, Dietz. DP: Lewis, Radeke, Williams.
