TRACY — Ariella Mejia and Izzy Avalos scored in the top of the sixth inning Thursday for East Union on an error off the bat of Dillan Blevins, and Ripon could not respond in the bottom of the frame when the game reached its time limit to give the Lancers a 5-4 win to open the National Fastpitch Coaches Association NorCal Leadoff Classic at Legacy Fields.
Both teams had their second games of the day canceled because of weather conditions.
“We haven’t had a game like this where we have had to come back and win,” East Union coach Matt Cooper said. “Most of our wins have been big wins, so it was good to have a close game.
“That’s a good team over there, and to come back and win it shows the girls we can do that. Our league is tough, and all the games are probably going to be close. Being able to reassure our girls that we can play from behind and come back and win is a good thing for us.”
The Lancers (11-4) took advantage of five errors by the Indians (7-4).
“We have kind of been in a defensive slump recently,” Ripon coach Tanner Jordan said. “So, we are just trying to work through it.
“Today, the errors just got to us, and that’s a good team over there. We can’t be making errors against a team like that.”
East Union took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Bella Cooper and Sienna Owen both reached on errors to start the Lancers first with Cooper scoring from second when Owen’s sacrifice bunt was misplayed and Owen ended up on second base. After advancing to third on Aubree Gann’s sacrifice bunt, Owen came in when Mikayla’s Simpson infield grounder was misplayed.
Owen reached base three times on errors and scored twice. She made four put-outs from short – two in the third inning – with two of those put-outs coming from deep in the hole.
“We came out today and put it on them,” Owen said. “If the third baseman is back on the corners are back, we know what to do and drop a bunt on them.
“At short, it’s all about putting the ball in the glove – and range too – and it’s good that we are able to back up our pitcher.”
Fallon Norman and Mackenzie Nervis (RBI) were each 2 for 3 for the Lancers.
“I have been working on staying consistent,” Nervis said. “Making contact with the ball rather than trying to hit the ball out of the park. That has been working pretty good for me.”
The Indians got three of their runs in the second inning to take a 3-2 lead. Abby Stewart and Mims Caratachea led off the frame with back-to-back singles and Chloe Lautenslager walked to load the bases, bringing No. 9 batter Addy Wilmshurst to the plate. Wilmshurst worked herself to a bases-loaded RBI walk with a 15-pitch at-bat for the first Ripon run of the game.
“That was a huge at-bat for us,” Jordan said of Wilmsmurst’s marathon at-bat. “Just the momentum it gave us and her just staying positive in the moment and staying after it in the moment is what we needed then.”
After Wilmshurst’s walk, Clara Townsend, who was running for Caratachea, scored on a Jaycee Wilmshurst groundout and Lautenslager came in on Addi Naranjo’s groundout for that 3-2 Indians lead.
East Union pitcher Mikayla Simpson struck out six and allowed six hits, retiring nine of the last 10 batters she faced. Victimized by those five errors, Ripon pitcher Caratachea struck out seven while yielding five hits.
Both teams are facing Pleasant Grove this morning in a revised schedule, with Ripon starting at 8 and East Union at 10.
