Softball Splits Doubleheader With Cabrillo, Earns Another Walk-off Win

By Jimmy Friery

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Santa Barbara City College Softball team (17-22, 4-7) split their Saturday non-conference doubleheader against Cabrillo (30-9, 9-4), ending the visitors' seven-game winning streak with a walk-off victory in game one.

Both games went to extra innings, emphasizing the thin margins between the teams on the day. Santa Barbara won the first 3-2 in eight innings before Cabrillo won game two 12-9 in nine innings.

Game one: Santa Barbara 3, Cabrillo 2 (8 inn.)

Naturally, a pitchers' duel, Ruby Bartholomew began game one with a scoreless first inning, working around a leadoff triple. Sammi Korte's RBI double and Anja Perreira's sacrifice fly in the bottom half gave the Vaqueros an early 2-0 lead.

While both teams failed to score, there was plenty of traffic on the bases from innings two through five. Cabrillo finally scored with an RBI triple in the top of the sixth—with nobody out—but Bartholomew got two popouts and a groundout to end the inning still ahead 2-1.

Then, in the top of the seventh, Cabrillo had the bases loaded with one out. A sacrifice fly tied the game, but Bartholomew again limited the damage to just the one run. The teams headed to extra innings.

With the automatic runner placed on second, Cabrillo was aggressive, sending the runner on a leadoff single to right. Kaylee Carrillo made a great throw, nabbing the runner at home for a crucial first out of the inning. They would not score, giving the Vaqueros a great opportunity for their sixth walk-off win of the year.

With Gracie Verdugo placed on second, Korte wasted little time ending the game. On the second pitch of the inning, she ripped her second RBI double of the game, giving the Vaqueros a 3-2 victory.

Along with Korte, Bartholomew and Mia Gaitan all had two hits. Bartholomew pitched all eight innings, scattering 10 hits and allowing just the two runs to earn the win.

Game two: Cabrillo 12, Santa Barbara 9 (9 inn.)

The low-scoring nature of game one was immediately discarded as the Vaqueros plated five in the first inning of game two. Korte's third double of the day scored the opening two runs before Carrillo's two-run triple and a run-scoring error made it 5-0 Santa Barbara.

Cabrillo scored a run in both the second and third innings. But the Vaqueros countered with a run in the second and fourth, plus two in the third. So, the offensive barrage allowed their lead to grow to 9-2.

A leadoff homer in the top of the sixth seemed like an afterthought as the Vaqueros headed into the seventh still leading 9-3.

Unfortunately for the hosts, four hits and two errors began what was assumed to be the final inning. Cabrillo had shrunk the deficit to 9-7 when the Vaqueros got their first out. The next batter, with runners on first and third, hit a double to score them both and tie the game.

Despite the Vaqueros' first two batters reaching in the bottom of the seventh, they could not get a run home, and the game again went to extras.

The teams played straight-up this time, without the automatic runner placed on second. After a scoreless eighth, Cabrillo used a double, sacrifice bunt, and two-run homer in the ninth to take their first lead of the day. Four straight singles followed, scoring another insurance run to make it 12-9 Cabrillo. The Vaqueros went down in order in the bottom half to end the doubleheader with a split.

There were hits aplenty in the second game as Cabrillo's 19 outpaced the Vaqueros' 14. Five different Vaqueros had multiple hits, led by Carrillo's 4-for-5 performance.

The Vaqueros round out their season with one final game at home, hosting Oxnard on Tuesday at 2 p.m.