Madera's Therese Valdez gets a jump from third base Saturday in the Lady Coyotes 9-5 win over Bullard.

Photo by: Wendy Alexander

Madera catcher Shelby Shaubach relays a sign to the dugout Saturday as the Lady Coyotes came from behind to defeat Bullard 9-5.

Photo by: Wendy Alexander

On the heels of their 2-1 win over top-ranked Buchanan High Tuesday, the Madera Lady Coyotes softball team had some unfinished business to take care of Friday.

Motivation came in the form of two perceived slights - one, despite knocking off No. 1 Buchanan, the Lady Coyotes were still ranked behind the Bears as the No. 2 team in the Central Section. And secondly, it had been since 1993 that Madera had defeated the Clovis Cougars in a league game.

So with both of these factors serving as inspiration, the Lady Coyotes handed the Cougars a 1-0 defeat on Friday before picking up two wins Saturday at the Buchanan Easter Tournament to run their season record to 11-1-2.

On Friday, Madera starter Ashley Grizzell faced off against Rebecca Arbino in a classic pitcher's duel. Neither team could manage to break through until the top of the sixth inning.

Jody Badorine then does what she does better than any player in the section - get on base. A bunt single by Badorine was followed by a perfectly executed sacrifice by Brittany Foster. After a wild pitch advanced Badorine to third, freshman Jocelyn Medina, who had a double in the first inning, drove in the game-winning run with a single to left as the Lady Coyotes handed the Cougars a 1-0 defeat.

Grizzell picked up the win with a complete-game two hitter.

"That was a huge win for us against a real quality team," said Madera head coach Judy Shaubach. "Ashley pitched a very good game and Jocelyn (Medina) came up with the big hit."

Madera then took on the Bullard Knights in the first game of the Buchanan Easter Tournament Saturday.

Sophomore pitcher Vanessa Salinas took the circle for the Lady Coyotes against Bethany Visciglio who was pitching her first varsity game.

The Lady Coyotes seemed to come out flat as Visciglio dominated the game early on.

In the bottom of the second, Salinas gave up a one-out double and following a strikeout, Bullard took a 1-0 lead on an RBI double.

Bullard added to its lead in the bottom of the third as the Knights led off the inning with consecutive singles. Then with two outs, Visciglio helped herself with a run-scoring single up the middle before another hit, walk and passed ball gave the Lady Knights a 4-0 lead as Jessica Cantu came on in relief of Salinas.

"Maybe it was being a little overemotional after the win against Clovis but we certainly didn't come playing with the intensity it will take to get through league," said Shaubach. "We were pressing at the plate and swinging at bad pitches."

Madera managed to get a run in the top of the fifth as Therese Valdez drilled a 3-2 pitch to the wall in center field for a double to lead off the inning. With two outs and Valdez on third, Stephanie Grizzell singled to leftfield to score Valdez making the score 4-1.

Ashley Grizzell came on in relief of Cantu in the bottom of the fifth inning and after giving up a leadoff single, got out of the inning on two nice plays by third baseman Stephanie Grizzell.

While things were looking bleak for Madera trailing by three runs with the 90-minute clock running down, they erupted for eight runs on just three hits in the top of the sixth inning to take a 9-4 lead.

Ashley Grizzell drew a leadoff walk with Sara Ramirez coming on the pinch run. Badorine then reached on an error with Foster sacrificing the runners to second and third. Ramirez scored on a wild pitch with Jocelyn Medina reaching on a walk.

Valdez then jumped on a Visciglio offering and drilled a two-run double over the bag at third to tie the game 4-4. Jerika Medina drew a walk before Stephanie Grizzell loaded the bases after being hit by a pitch.

Phylicia Zavala then hit a sharp grounder into the hole at shortstop to score a pair or runs as the Bullard shortstop ran into the field umpire on what would have driven in the go-ahead run regardless.

With a 6-4 lead, the Lady Coyotes weren't finished as Ashley Grizzell drew a walk with freshman Megan Massetti coming on the pinch run. Massetti stole second base and drew a throw allowing another run to score with Massetti taking third base.

Badorine followed with a two-run single to right field to give the Lady Coyotes a 9-4 lead.

Bullard scored a final run in the bottom of the sixth before a diving catch by Valdez in left field ended the game with Madera winning 9-5.

"Therese is really seeing the ball big right now and has given us a huge lift since moving to the No. 4 spot," said Shaubach. "And she is just nails in the outfield and keeps coming up with great defensive plays."

In the afternoon game, Jessica Cantu drew the start against the Clovis East Timberwolves.

Unlike the previous game, this time Madera jumped on top early. Badorine beat out an infield single to lead off the bottom of the first with Jerika Medina following with a sharp single to left field. Following a sacrifice by Jocelyn Medina, Valdez lofted a deep fly ball the center to score Badorine and give Madera a 1-0 lead.

Salinas then drove in a run on an RBI single as the Lady Coyotes took a 2-0 lead.

Cantu gave up two, two-out singles to load the bases for Bullard in the top of the second before hitting the next batter to force in a run and bringing the score to 2-1.

Madera added to its lead in the bottom of the second as Phylicia Zavala hammered a double to the wall in center field to lead off the inning. Then with two outs, Badorine reached base on a bunt single with Zavala coming around to score on an error. Jerika Medina singled to left and Jocelyn Medina drew a walk to load the bases. Valdez then worked a walk to force in another run and give the Lady Coyotes a 4-1 lead.

Clovis East threatened in the top of the third as two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs before a grounder to Jerika Medina at shortstop ended the inning.

In the bottom of the third, freshman Aurelia Gamch led off with a single to left and advanced to second on a sacrifice by Zavala. Stephanie Grizzell then drilled a run-scoring double to the wall in center field giving Madera a 5-1 lead.

"We really got solid contributions from a lot of different players who are taking advantage of playing time," said Shaubach. "Zavala is really hot right now and Stephanie (Grizzell) had a good two games. With Jocelyn, Jerika, Jody and Therese all driving the ball well, when we get contributions from other players, we are a very tough team to deal with. We are fortunate to be so deep and have the luxury of playing whoever has the hot bat at the time."

Two Madera errors, a single and double scored a run for the Timberwolves in the top of the fifth.

Gamch led off the bottom of the fifth with her second hit of the game with Zavala following with a single. Gamch then scored the final run on a sacrifice fly by Stephanie Grizzell to give the lady Coyotes the 6-2 win.

In the three wins, Madera was led in hitting by Badorine (4 for 8, 2 RBI), Valdez (3 for 4, 2B, 3 RBI), Jocelyn Medina (3 for 6, 2B, RBI), Jerika Medina (3 for 5), Stephanie Grizzell (2 for 5, 2B, 4 RBI) and Zavala (3 for 6, 2B, 4 RBI).

Madera will continue play today at the Buchanan Easter Tournament taking on the Reedley Pirates at 9 a.m. followed the Stockdale Mustangs at 11 a.m.

Paul Stanford Paul Stanford is the sports editor for the Madera Tribune. You can contact Paul at 674.8134 ext. 225 or e-mail at pstanford (at) maderatribune.net The Madera Tribune online subscription To subscribe or log on, CLICK HERE. For more information first, CLICK HERE.