Coyotes stymied by top seed Clovis North
Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Erika Perez urges on her teammates after hitting a fourth inning double in Thursday’s 2-0 loss to Clovis North in the Div. I quarterfinals.
The Madera Coyotes softball team went into last week’s quarterfinal game with confidence knowing they took top seed Clovis North to the limit during the regular season.
The ninth-seeded Coyotes gave the Broncos all the could handle, but couldn’t produce enough offense in a 2-0 loss Thursday at Clovis North in the Div. I quarterfinals.
Madera pitcher Alexis Galvan allowed a home run to the Broncos’ lead-off batter and then allowed another run in the fifth inning. Other than that, Galvan was brilliant in the other four innings. She allowed just two baserunners in the other innings.
Galvan struck out seven and walked one in six innings of work.
However, her counterpart struck out 10 and held the Coyotes to just two hits.
Erika Perez hit a double and Briannah Hamilton hit a single while the Coyotes had just one other baserunner. Both Hamilton and Perez had a hit and were hit by pitches.
Madera’s only other base runner was Arissa Arias, who was also hit by a pitch.
In an April 23 meeting, it took a two-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the eighth inning for the Broncos to beat the Coyotes.
The Coyotes were up to the task Thursday, but the Broncos had a little more offense.
Madera had the first chance to score in the top of the first inning.
Hamilton hit a two-out single to left and then stole second. Perez was hit by a pitch, but the next batter struck out.
Clovis North hit Galvan’s fourth pitch of the game over the centerfield fence for a solo home run.
From there, though, Galvan matched Clovis North. Until the fifth inning, Galvan allowed a single and a walk while picking up three strikeouts.
Meanwhile, Madera’s offense was stuck. They went down in order in four of the seven innings.
Madera had an opportunity to tie the game in the fourth when Perez ripped a one-out double off the left-centerfield fence. However, Perez couldn’t advance. The next batter struck out. After Arias was hit by a pitch, the next batter popped out to end the inning.
Hamilton was hit by a pitch in the sixth, but she couldn’t advance, as well.
Clovis North put an insurance run on the board in the fifth started with a lead-off double. Galvan settled down with a strikeout and a groundout to keep the runner at second. However, a sharp single to right scored the runner for a 2-0 lead.
The Broncos got another single to put runners at second and third, but Galvan struck out the No. 3 batter to get out of the inning.
Galvan gave her team a chance in the sixth with a pair of strikeouts, but the Coyotes went down in order to end their season.
