Softball teams advance to quarters

Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune

Matilda Torres’ J’Lynn Mitchell celebrates at second base after a double. She also hit an inside-the-park home run and drove in three in a 16-3 victory over Washington Union in the first round of the Div. V Central Section playoffs. 

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Seven of the eight Madera-area bat and ball teams were in action for the first round of the Central Section Playoffs on Friday and Saturday, and all three softball teams advanced, as well as the Matilda Torres baseball team. 

Softball

For just the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Madera South Stallions made the Central Section softball playoffs. 

The 11th-seeded Stallions traveled to Bakersfield to face No. 6 Mira Monte and brought out the offense for a 15-10 upset victory Friday in Div. VI.

The Stallions, who were a 14 seed in the Div. V playoffs in 2023, won their first playoff game since 2019 when they were a No. 9 seed and defeated No. 8 Hoover, 15-5, in the first round of Div. IV.

Dallas Chavira was a little shaky in picking up the win. She tossed a complete game, but walked six and struck out 10. 

The Stallions banged out 15 hits, including two triples and four RBIs from Chavira. 

Roslyn Perez had two hits and scored three runs, Natalia Gutierrez had three hits and three RBI with a triple, and Makayla Medley had three hits, scored two runs and drove in two. 

The Stallions play at Avenal today in the Div. VI quarterfinals. 

The Matilda Torres Toros scored nine runs in the fourth inning to put away the Washington Union Panthers, 16-3, in the Div. V first round game. 

The fifth-seeded Toros scored a run in every inning before putting away the 12th-seeded Panthers in a five-inning mercy-rule victory. 

Torres banged out 13 hits in the win, including an inside-the-park home run from J’lynn Mitchell. Mitchell added a double and drove in three. 

Pitcher Jordyn Anaya held the Panthers for most of the game before allowing three runs on four hits and a walk in the fifth. She struck out three and walked two in the win. 

The top four hitters — Ariana Garcia, Jillian Villalobos, Jazmin Gonzalez and Mitchell — combined to score 11 of the 16 runs and drive in nine. Gonzalez hit two doubles, drove in four and scored three runs. 

Mylah Avila and Brielle Villalobos each had two hits. Avila scored two runs and Villalobos drove in three.

The Toros face No. 5 Hoover in the quarterfinals today. 

In Div. III, the Liberty Hawks got a two-run go-ahead home run from Carly Jimenez in the fifth for a 3-1 victory Saturday over No. 11 Wasco to advance to the quarterfinals. 

The sixth-seeded Hawks got a stellar pitching performance from ace Macie Webster. She scattered one run on six hits with six strikeouts and no walks. Her only blemish was a lead-off home run in the fourth. 

The Hawks had six hits in the game, led by Jimenez’s home run. Macie Cox and Xaiya Castaneda scored the other two runs. 

Liberty travels to face No. 3 Hanford West today in the quarterfinals. 

The Madera-area team that wasn’t in action Friday or Saturday was the Madera Coyotes softball team. They earned the No. 4 seed in Div. I. There were only eight team in Div. I, so the teams got a bye. The Coyotes host No. 5 Clovis West today at 4:30 at Zimmerman Field. 

Baseball

Controversy hung over the Liberty Hawks’ 6-4 victory over Golden West in the Div. IV playoffs. 

Earlier in the week, Anthony Gaitan tossed a complete-game victory over Caruthers, racking up 13 strikeouts. However, he threw 103 pitches in the game. 

In Friday’s, 10-6 victory over No. 10 Golden West, the seventh-seeded Hawks threw Damian Sandate for four innings to pick up the win. However, Gaitan came in relief, and threw another 43 pitches and three innings.

Per National Federation of High School Sports, the rest period for a player with more than 76 pitches is three full days of rest, meaning Gaitan would be eligible to pitch Saturday instead of Friday. 

Unfortunately, Gaitan pitched, and Liberty had to forfeit its playoff game with Golden West. The Trailblazers played No. 2 Reedley in the second round Tuesday.

Before that, the Hawks held Golden West to six hits. 

After Golden West took a 2-0 lead, Liberty scored three in the first. Golden West tied it with a run in the second, but the Hawks scored three in the third and two in the fourth for an 8-3 lead. 

Golden West cut the lead to two with a three-run fifth, but the Hawks closed it with two runs in the sixth. 

The top three batters in the order — Nicola Cercone, Carson Groh and Sandate — scored eight of the 10 runs and had three of the nine hits. Boston Wood was 2-for-2 with four RBIs to lead the offense. 

The Madera Coyotes baseball team hung with the Buchanan Bears for about five innings, but a five-run sixth opened the game for the Bears in the first round of the Div. I playoffs.

The 12th-seeded Coyotes trailed 3-0 to the fifth-seeded Bears after three innings. Madera scored two in the top of the fourth, but Buchanan scored two in the bottom. 

Madera, again, scored two in the fifth, but Buchanan answered with two in the bottom for a 7-4 lead. The Bears broke the game open in the sixth for a 12-5 victory.

Derek Lujano led the Coyotes’ eight-hit attack with two hits and two RBIs. Ray Urbano had two hits and scored two runs from the No. 9 spot. Eric Nelson hit a two-run homer, and scored two runs to lead the offense. 

Zach Sanchez suffered the loss, allowing seven runs, five earned, in 4 2/3 innings. 

In Oakhurst, the 12th-seeded Madera South Stallions had No. 5 seed, Yosemite, on the ropes in the first round of the Div. V playoffs. The Badgers scored three in the seventh for a walk-off victory. 

Yosemite led 5-0 to the fifth after three runs in the first and two in the fourth. However, the Stallions sent 10 batters to the plate in the fifth to take a 6-5 lead. 

Madera South added a run in the sixth for a 7-5 lead. However, the Badgers opened the seventh with a single and a walk. A bunt put runners at the corners with one out. The Badgers followed with three straight singles to walk it off.

Victor Mercado suffered the loss on the mound in a complete game. Three of the eight runs he allowed were unearned. He struck out six and walked two. 

Madera South only managed three hits in the game, but took advantage of four walks and three errors for the seven runs. 

Jayden Castaneda hit a bases loaded double for three RBIs. Josiah Ortiz and Lenin Gonzalez had the other two hits for the Stallions.