Coyotes finish tourney unbeaten
Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s shortstop Gennahlyn Sanchez makes a running throw for the final out of the fourth inning Thursday during a 10-0 victory over Rancho in the three-day Washington Union Invititational. The Coyotes finished with a 4-0-1 record in the tourney.
EASTON — The Madera Coyotes softball team rolled through the Washington Union Invitational by picking up four wins and a tie in the three-day tourney.
The Coyotes won their first three games by a combined 31-2 score before allowing Clovis East to score three runs in the seventh to end in a 7-7 tie. Madera finished the tournament Saturday with an eight-inning 8-7 victory over Kingsburg.
“With the exception of the Clovis East game, I thought we played really, really well,” head coach Judy Shaubach said after Kingsburg’s victory. “Defensively, we got a little sloppy in this game. I thought we put the ball in play, ran the bases well and understood where our strength is offensively. I was pretty pleased.”
With the County/Metro Athletic Conference starting Tuesday, Shaubach knows she has to fortify her defense. Of the 16 runs allowed by the Coyotes, 10 were unearned. Madera committed 14 errors in the three-day tournament that beat the rain.
“Defensively, we have a lot of kids that can play a lot of positions,” Shaubach said. “We’re going into league and we can move people around. Neveah Montes had the game of her life, offensively and defensively today. She was moving and showed me she wants to be in that line-up. That’s what I want from my players. Mariah McMillon hadn’t gotten a lot of innings, but got herself on base. When kids come off the bench, they have good showings.”
Madera opened the CMAC season Tuesday against Sanger in Zimmerman Field and will play at Bullard-Fresno on Friday.
Camile DeAnda led the Coyotes with a .692 batting average (9-for-13) with a home run and two doubles. She drove in seven runs and scored six. Tayah Hernandez batted .636 and Taylor Brooks hit .529 with nine hits, 10 runs scored, five RBIs and seven stolen bases from the lead-off spot. Madera 10, Ranchos-Las Vegas 0
The Coyotes made quick work of the Ranchos-Las Vegas Rams with a 10-0, four inning victory. Kaylee Dawson picked up the win on the mound with a one-hitter in three innings.
Brooks, DeAnda, Hernandez, Haley Perez, Mikayla Arrieta and Dawson each had two hits in the game.
The Coyotes took advantage of Rancho’s defense. They weren’t used to the Coyotes’ speed. The Coyotes recorded six stolen bases with Brooks swiping three bags. They also forced Rancho into five errors, which led to three unearned runs.
Brooks and DeAnda opened the scoring to start the bottom of the first with bunt singles. They both came around to score for a 2-0 lead.
Arrieta led off the second with a bunt single and went to an unoccupied second base. Dawson reached on an error while Arrieta came in to score.
Pinch-runner Neveah Montes scored on an error. Gennahlyn Sanchez doubled and came around to score on another error. Brooks followed with a single and DeAnda doubled her in. Hernandez singled up the middle. Hollee Brown reached on a fielder’s choice to drive in pinch-runner Mikayla Ruiz for a 7-0 lead.
The Coyotes added two more in the third when Dawson singled. Pinch-runner McMillon scored on a DeAnda’s sacrifice fly. Brooks reached on an error and scored on a Hernandez single for a 9-0 lead.
The Coyotes invoked the 10-run mercy rule in the bottom of the fourth. Sofia Perez was hit by a pitch. Arrieta singled pinch-runner Joslynn Davis to second. Dawson singled to left and Davis scored the game-ending run for a 10-0 lead. Madera 8, Chowchilla 0
The Coyotes banged out eight hits for an 8-0, six-inning victory over the Chowchilla Tribe. Dawson tossed a four-hit shutout with three strikeouts. She didn’t walk a batter.
Hernandez led the Coyotes with three hits. DeAnda and Dawson each had two hits.
The Coyotes broke open a 1-0 game with a five-run fifth inning. The first five batters of the inning — Brooks, DeAnda, Hernandez, Valerie Ornelas and Hollee Brown — to open a 6-0 lead.
Brooks scored a run in the fourth and pinch-runner Davis scored a run in the sixth to end the game with the eight-run mercy rule. Madera 13, Lemoore 2
The Coyotes faced their first deficit of the tournament and closed their game against Lemoore with 13 unanswered runs.
Dawson picked up her third win of the tournament. She threw three innings and struck out three batters.
Brooks, DeAnda and Ornelas each had two hits and scored two runs. Ornelas also drove in four runs. Hernandez had two hits and Brown, Haley Perez and Arrieta drove in two runs each.
Lemoore scored the first runs of the game in the top of the first inning. Two doubles and a single led to a 2-0 Tigers’ lead.
Madera responded with a run in the bottom of the first. Brooks singled, went to third on a sacrifice and scored on an Ornelas double.
The Coyotes took the lead in the second. With one out, Montes and Dawson drew walks. Perez followed with a double off the left field fence to drive in Montes and pinch-runner Mikayla Ruiz.
Madera sent 13 batters to the plate in the third to end the game after holding the Tigers scoreless in the top of the fourth to invoke the 10-run mercy rule.
DeAnda led off the inning with a single. Hernandez singled DeAnda to third. DeAnda scored on a wild pitch. Ornelas drew a walk and Brown singled home pinch-runner Mariah McMillon and Ornelas to open a 6-2 lead.
After a pair of outs, Perez was hit by a pitch. Arrieta hit a soft liner over the shortstop’s head for a double to drive in Brown and Perez. Brooks singled to left to drive in Arrieta for a 9-2 lead. DeAnda drove in Brooks with a single.
Hernandez reached on a bunt single to put two runners on base. Ornelas hit the first pitch of her second at-bat of the third inning over the left field fence for a three-run home run and give the Coyotes a 13-2 victory. Madera 7, Clovis East 7
In an up-and-down game, the Coyotes allowed three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning for a 7-7 tie in a game called because of time limit.
Clovis East scored two runs in the bottom of the first, but the Coyotes came back with four in the top of the second. Ornelas, Arrieta, Sofia Perez and Davis each scored runs.
Clovis East tied the score with two runs in the bottom of the third, but the Coyotes reclaimed the lead with a three-run fourth.
Brown led off the inning with a single. Perez sacrificed pinch-runner Lealani Ricks to second. After Sanchez drew a walk, Ricks scored on a throwing error. However, Sanchez was thrown out at the plate trying to score on the same error.
Davis started a new rally with a single. She went to second on a Brooks single. Davis came in to score on another throwing error while Brooks scored on a double from DeAnda for a 7-3 lead.
An error, a bad decision on a force out put two runs on for the Timberwolves. Coyote pitcher Kaylee Patlan got the second out ona groundout, but a single drove in two runs to cut Madera’s lead to one. A pair of singles tied the score, but Patlan got a groundout to end the inning and settle for a tie. Madera 8, Kingsburg 7 (8 innings)
The Coyotes jumped out to a pair of five-run leads, but the Kingsburg Vikings battled back with runs in five straight innings to force extra innings.
Madera scored a run in the eight for the victory.
Brooks led the Coyotes with three hits and drove in four runs from the lead-off spot. DeAnda hit a two-run home run and Montes scored two runs and had two hits.
Patlan earned her first varsity victory with 1 2/3 innings in relief. She allowed a hit with a strikeout to secure Madera’s victory.
Madera scored five runs in the top of the second for the early lead. With one out, Arrieta reached on an error.
After a flyout, Montes turned a 10-pitch at-bat into a single to left. Ruiz reached on a bunt single to load the bases.
On the next pitch, Brooks hit a liner to the left-center fence. Arrieta, Montes and Ruiz raced home with runs while Brooks advanced to third on a throw.
Two pitches later, DeAnda homered over the centerfield fence for a 5-0 lead.
The Coyotes added another run in the top of the third. McMillon drew a walk and Arrieta singled. After a double play, Montes turned a nine-pitch at-bat into a grounder that was misplayed while McMillon scored.
After Kingsburg scored two runs in the bottom of the third, the Coyotes added a run in the fourth. Brooks led off with a single and went to second on a DeAnda sacrifice. Ornelas doubled to right-center to drive in Brooks for a 7-2 lead.
The Vikings added a run in the fourth off of Dawson and scored two unearned runs off of Felicity Rocha in the fifth.Kingsburg scored another unearned run in the sixth to cut Madera’s lead to 7-6. After getting a groundout, Rocha walked a batter and allowed a single. Patlan came in and got a grounder to short that was misplayed for an error to load the bases.
Patlan got the next batter to hit a grounder back to her. Patlan threw to Haley Perez at the plate for the force. However, a wild pitch allowed the tying run to score. Patlan got a strikeout to end the inning.
Montes led off the eighth with a bunt single and went to second on an errant throw. Sanchez sacrificed Montes to third and Brooks singled her home for an 8-7 lead.
Kingsburg led off the eight by reaching on an error and singling to center. Patlan got the next batter to hit a shallow fly ball to left field. Shortstop DeAnda made a lunging grab on the ball and threw to second to double up a Kingsburg runner. Patlan then got a flyout to McMillon in left to end the game.
“Patlan showed such maturity up there,” Shaubach said. “She did her job. Our defense let her down. I told my defense that when she gets the ground balls, you have to make the plays behind her. When you, as a defensive player, want the ball hit to you, you will make the play. You’re going to have a real short memory and move onto the next pitch.”
