Softball wins 10th game in 9 innings

After waiting two days for its match-up with the Clovis North Broncos, the Madera Coyotes softball team pulled out a 9-6 victory in nine innings at Clovis North.

In a gamed moved because of Tuesday’s rain to Thursday, the Coyotes got a three-run home run from Camile DeAnda and clutch hitting in the eight and ninth innings to pull out the victory.

Three Coyote pitchers worked to get the win. Kaylee Dawson started the game and closed the game to earn the victory. She tossed five innings and allowed five runs with five strikeouts. Felicity Rocha threw for 2/3 innings, but walked three. Freshman Kaylee Patlan tossed 3 1/3 innings and allowed one run on four hits with three walks.

Gennahlyn Sanchez and Hollee Brown each drove in two runs. Brown also led the team with three hits and two runs scored with DeAnda. Nine different Coyotes had a hit in the game to improve to 10-1 on the season with two more Tri-River Athletic Conference opponents — Buchanan-Clovis on Tuesday and Clovis East on Thursday — this week, both at Zimmerman Field.

Clovis North put the Coyotes into an early hole. They scored two runs on three hits in the first innings and scored two runs on two hits and two hit batters in the third inning.

Dawson got into trouble in the third with her second hit batter of the inning and Rocha came in relief. Rocha walked the first batter she saw, but got out of a bases loaded jam with a strikeout. She walked two in the fourth before Patlan got a fly ball back to her to end the inning.

Patlan held the Broncos off the scoreboard until the seventh inning before Dawson came back in and got a flyout with the winning run at second. Dawson allowed a run in the eighth, but got a strikeout to end the game in the ninth.

Meanwhile, the Coyotes chipped away at Clovis North’s lead in the fourth. Taylor Brooks led off the inning with a single. After a Mikayla Arrieta sacrifice and a Tayah Hernandez groundout, Brooks advanced to third.

Valerie Ornelas drew a walk. Brown singled in Brooks and pinch-runner Mikayla Ruiz to get Madera on the scoreboard.

The Coyotes took the lead in the sixth. Hernandez led off with a single, but was forced out by Ornelas. Brown followed with another single to put runners at first and third.

DeAnda hit the first pitch she saw over the right field fence for an opposite field three-run home run for a 5-4 lead.

Clovis North tied the game in the seventh, but the Coyotes took the lead in the eighth. DeAnda led off the inning with a single. After a sacrifice from Sanchez, Sofia Perez singled up the middle for a 6-5 lead.

The Broncos came back to tie the game with three singles and a walk. Dawson stranded the bases loaded with one out with a pop out to Sanchez at short and a fly out to Joslynn Davis in right.

The Coyotes took the lead for good with three runs in the ninth. Arrieta led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an error. Hernandez reached on an error. Arrieta came in to score and Hernandez took second. She went to third on an Ornelas groundout.

Brown singled home Arrieta. After a lineout, Sanchez singled home Hernandez and Brown for the 9-6 lead.

Dawson retired the side in order for the first time in the game to record her ninth win of the year.