Coyotes win four games in final at bat

Tyler Takeda/The Madera Tribune
Madera’s Kaylee Patlan throws a pitch against Christian Brothers in the Sacramento Preseason tournament on Friday. She picked up two wins over the weekend.
SACRAMENTO — With the way the Madera Coyotes softball team is beating up schools in Northern California, they may not get invited back to the tournament.
The team won four games this weekend, all in its final at-bat, in the Preseason Tournament of Championship in the Sacramento Softball Complex. Last year, the Coyotes escaped the rain, like they did this year, to go 5-0 at the same tournament in Elk Grove.
“We battled this weekend,” head coach Judy Shaubach said. “Although we didn’t play our best ball, the team manufactured runs when they really needed to. They showed a lot of grit.”
The Coyotes opened the tournament Friday morning with a 6-2 win over Lincoln after scoring all six of their runs in the fifth inning. Despite scoring three runs in the first inning, the Coyotes needed a run in the bottom of the fourth to record a 4-3 victory over Christian Brothers-Sacramento in the afternoon.
During a cold Saturday morning, the Coyotes squeezed out a run in the bottom of the fourth inning for a 1-0 victory over McQueen-Reno. The Coyotes followed with a 3-2 win over Spanish Springs-Sparks, Nev. after scoring two runs in the bottom of the fifth inning while dodging the rain earlier in the game. .
The Perez sisters, Sofia and Erika, helped power the Coyotes to the four wins. Older sister Sofia hit two doubles in five at-bats. Younger sister Erika batted .500 (5-for-10) with a home run and four RBIs. Tayah Hernandez was four-of-10.
Kaylee Patlan picked up two wins and allowed a run over 10 1/3 innings. Alexis Galvan and Felicity Rocha each had wins.
Madera 6, Lincoln 2
In the first game of the TOC, the Coyotes faced a tough task. The Coyotes and Lincoln went scoreless through the first four innings.
Galvan allowed four baserunners through the first five innings and just two reached third base.
She got out of a big jam in the fifth inning. After allowing a leadoff double and a sacrifice bunt, the next batter lifted a fly ball to center. Madera centerfielder Joslynn Davis caught the fly ball and threw a rocket to the plate. Catcher Valerie Ornelas gathered the ball in, but the runner, who was tagging up and heading to the plate, reversed direction and headed back to third. Ornelas threw to Erika Perez, who placed the tag, for the third out of the inning.
Sofia Perez and Erika Perez each had two hits in the win to lead the Coyotes.
It took the Coyotes a little bit to break through Lincoln pitcher Jada Bolar, who retired the first eight batters in order.
The Perez sisters broke the no-hitter with back-to-back singles in the third. Madera left runners at second and third in the fourth, but broke through in the fifth.
With one out, Sofia Perez hit a drive over the centerfielder’s head that would have gone out of the park had their been high school fences. Instead, she settled for a double.
Erika Perez followed with a single up the middle to drive in pinch-runner Ari Ochoa for the game’s first run. Perez advanced to second on a fielding error. Davis reached on an infield single to drive in Perez while Davis took second on an error.
Hernandez singled up the middle to drive in Davis and chase Bolar.
Valerie Ornelas greeted the new pitcher with a single to left to put runners at second and third.
After a groundout advanced the runners, Hernandez scored on a wild pitch to Lealani Ricks. Ricks eventually drew a walk to put runners at first and third. With Rocha at the plate, Ricks took off for second, but Lincoln tried to catch Ornelas off of third. The throw went into left field to score Ornelas and Ricks scored all the way from first for a 6-0 lead.
Galvan allowed four singles in the bottom of the sixth inning to score two runs. She got a groundout to end the game with a 6-2 victory.
Madera 4, Christian Brothers 3
The Coyotes had to overcome their own mistakes to pick up a win against the Christian Brothers Falcons.
Rocha was charged with three runs, but just one was earned. Patlan tossed two scoreless innings in relief for the victory.
Erika Perez, Hernandez and Ricks each had two hits and Eliza DeAnda drove in a pair of runs.
Madera scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning to take the early lead.
With one out, Davis reached on an infield single. Hernandez followed with a single to center. After a strikeout, DeAnda doubled to left-center to drive in Davis and Hernandez. Ricks followed with a single up the middle to drive in DeAnda.
The Falcons added two runs in the second behind two Madera errors to cut the lead to one. The Falcons added another run in the third after a single and double to tie the game.
The Coyotes took the lead in the fourth. Mariah McMillon led off the inning by reaching on an error. Sofia Perez sacrificed her to third and Erika Perez singled up the middle to drive in McMillon with the go-ahead run.
Patlan closed out the game retiring the final six Falcons in order.
Madera 1, McQueen 0
Although the Coyotes pulled out a slim victory, they were almost outclassed by McQueen pitcher Rylie Miller.
Miller allowed just two hits and struck out five.
However, the Madera pitching of Patlan and Rocha silenced the McQueen bats. They allowed four hits and struck out one in the win.
Ornelas and Neveah Montes were the only Coyotes to pick up hits.
McQueen put runners on base in every inning and left nine on in five innings.
The Lancers put a runner on third with one out in the first, but a squeeze bunt didn’t go far and Ornelas picked up the ball and tagged out the incoming runner for the out.
The Lancers loaded the bases in the second and third innings before Patlan got goundouts to get out of the threat.
The Lancers put a runner on second in the fourth. On a groundout to second, the Lancers tried to push the envelope and try for two bases and the lead. Madera was alert and first baseman Sofia Perez threw a strike to Ornelas to end the inning.
Madera pushed over a run in the bottom of the fourth. Hernandez led off the inning with an eight-pitch walk. Two batters later, Ornelas hit a drive into left-center for a double to put runners at second and third with one out.
Davis then put down a squeeze bunt to drive in Hernandez for the 1-0 lead.
Madera got some help from McQueen in the top of the fifth. With one out, the Lancers had to give up an at-bat because of an injury. The batter was injured and the Lancers had no one else on the bench, therefore they had to give up an out.
The next batter singled, but she batted out of order for the third out of the inning and ended the game because of time.
Madera 3, Silver Springs 2
In one of the toughest games of the year, the Coyotes got a late run to pull out a victory.
Because it was the second game of a back-to-back with rain and wind, the Coyotes weren’t prepared to take the field against the Cougars.
When they did, Rocha walked four batters in the first inning to force in a run for the early lead. Patlan came in relief and got a comebacker to end the inning.
Although Patlan wasn’t sharp, she got out of trouble the rest of the day. She allowed baserunenrs in all five full innings of work, but stranded four of those runners. She got a forceout in the second, a throw out at the plate from Hernandez in the third, a caught stealing in the fourth and a forceout in the fifth to get out of trouble.
Meanwhile, the Coyotes’ bats did just enough for the win.
With one out in the second, Davis walked and went to third on a Ricks sacrifice. Sofia Perez the drew a walk.
With McMillon at the plate, Perez took for second. She avoided the tag without a slide to steal second while Davis scored the game-tying run.
Madera took the lead in the fifth off the bats of the Perez sisters. Sofia led off the fifth with another shot that would have left the park, but settled for a double.
Pinch runner Sarah Walters advanced to third on a wild pitch. After two outs, Erika Perez hit a shot over the centerfielder’s head that also would have left the yard.
However, while Walters scored the go-ahead run, Perez raced around the bases for an inside-the-park two-run home run, her second homer of the year, for a 3-1 lead.
Patlan allowed a run on two hits in the sixth to close out the game.