Reedley College Ends FCC’s Winning Streak

+Looking for a win to keep their three-game winning streak alive and trying to keep their overall record above 500, Fresno City College softball faced conference rival Reedley College at home.

FCC came into the game with momentum after wins against Taft and West Valley, who they beat twice in a double header.

The game began with FCC pitcher Mayra Mendez coming out strong getting the first two outs fast with help from her defense.

The third out, however, proved to be more elusive because Reedley College infielder Maddi Tuttle hit a solo homerun to right field.

After that, Mendez was able to get the next batter out and get FCC on the field with only one run scored.

FCC’s offense was quiet for the bottom of the first inning, going three and out and ending the inning with no hits.

The second inning saw Mendez struggle to get batters out, allowing hits that eventually turned into runs.

The struggle was not only in the pitching department, but also with offense.

The top of the third inning was difficult for FCC. The pitching staff allowed a single followed by a homerun by Reedley College infielder Macy Dias, which brought in two more runs and ended Mendez’s day.

FCC’s Anisha Navarro relieved Mendez at pitching and was able to get out of the inning without any more runs being scored.

The FCC offense finally got going when infielder Sara Specht hit a single to left field. After that, pitcher Navarro got a sacrifice out to move Specht into scoring position.

FCC’s offense was trying to come back but Reedley was not making it easy for them. FCC’s first two batters in the bottom of the fourth got out with infield fly-outs.

The third batter for FCC, outfielder Madison Forester, was walked and the next batter opened up and allowed Forester to steal second base.

With Forester in scoring position, it was up to Specht to come up with a hit and start a rally for the Rams.

Specht got a hit to third base, but was unable to reach first before being called out and ending the fourth inning.

FCC had its hopes of a comeback diminished when in the top of the fifth inning, Reedley College scored 6 runs.

At the top of the fifth inning, the third batter up was walked by Navarro, putting two on base and one in scoring position. That’s when Reedley College infielder Serenity Castro hit a single to center field that loaded the bases.

Two outs later and it was looking like FCC might come out of the inning with minimal damage, but Reedley college had it’s next four batters all get hits that brought in runners making the total runs allowed for that inning by FCC to six.

The disastrous inning ended with Reedley College’s last batter hitting a fly ball to center field that was caught by FCC’s Madison Forester.

The bottom of the fifth inning was FCC’s last hope for a comeback, because the score was 11 to 0 and the game was in danger of being called on a mercy rule.

FCC started strong with Navarro hitting a double and putting herself on scoring position, and then Caballero hitting a single to center field bringing in Navarro for the score.

With a run scored, momentum was on FCC’s side and it was up to outfielder Hannah Gutierrez to get a hit. Gutierrez got a hit to center field that seem uncatchable, but was caught also catching Caballero on her way back to first base, making it a double play.

The game finished in the bottom of the fifth with FCC losing with a score of 11 to 1.

“We lacked heart on this game,” said Karen Zamora, the team captain. “When we play like we did on Saturday, when we were loud, that’s when we are unbeatable.”

Coach Rhonda Williams said the team is taking things one game at a time. “In a 40 game season were going to have games like this one, where things aren’t just right, but the good teams figure out a way to come back.”