Lauren Larabell stayed hot at the plate and Alyse Harris silenced the Fullerton attack on Saturday in SBCC’s 5-3 softball victory on the opening day of the 12th annual Bash at the Beach at Pershing Park.
Eight games were slated for Saturday but the final two, including SBCC’s game against No. 6-ranked Saddleback, were postponed by rain. Golden West went 2-0 while Santa Barbara and Saddleback were 1-0.
Larabell, a freshman catcher from Hesperia, was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs for the Vaqueros (15-13), who are 6-2 at home this year. She’s 5-6 in her last two games, raising her average to .415 (34-82).
The Vaqueros struck first, scoring three times in the second. Larabell singled and scored on a groundout by Mariah Coyazo, Emilee Bachman had an RBI single and Tara Crawford scored on a throwing error.
The Vaqueros made it 4-0 in the third on a double by Brianna Portese and an RBI groundout by Natalie Orosco. Fullerton (6-20) opened the fourth with a double and a walk, chasing SBCC starter Celeste Acosta.
Alyse Harris came on in relief. After her error allowed two runs to score and shaved the lead to 4-3, she shut down the Hornets on one hit in the last four frames. Harris struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.
“We got ahead early and that really helped,” said Larabell. “Alyse came in and pitched great. We were trying to wait as long as we could (against their pitcher Venessa Meza) and lay off the changeup.”
Bachman had two of the Vaqueros’ eight hits. Acosta ended the first two innings by starting double plays.
The Vaqueros added an insurance run in the fifth when Larabell walked with two outs and came around to score on a throwing error.
Coach Paula Congleton said her team was looking forward to playing Saddleback, the No. 2 team in Southern Cal with a 24-6 record.
“They have 24 wins and they’re battling for the top spot in their conference,” she noted. “Both of us are hoping to make the playoffs, so this game could make a big difference.
“We’re going to try to reschedule it in the next couple of weeks.”
The Vaqueros will play two at home on Sunday, taking on Golden West at 11 a.m. and Santa Monica at 3 p.m. There are eight round-robin games in the Bash at the Beach on two fields at Pershing, slated for 9 a.m., 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
LINE SCORE:
Fullerton ……… 000 300 0 — 3 4 3
SBCC .……….… 031 010 x — 5 8 2
Meza and Martinez; Acosta, Harris (4) and Larabell. W–Acosta 8-4. L–Meza.
2B–F: Kaiser. SB: Portese.
