Posted on 07 May 2014 by La Habra Journal
Sonora’s Chelsea Purcell gave the Lady Raiders an early 2-0 lead with an RBI-triple in the third inning, but Sonora fell to Fullerton 5-4 in nine innings, Tuesday afternoon on the road.
by Nathan Percy
La Habra Journal
With an opportunity to take sole possession of first place in the Freeway League, the Sonora softball team stumbled late and fell to Fullerton 5-4 in nine innings, Tuesday afternoon at Fullerton High.
The win puts the Lady Indians in sole possession of first place and creates a jumbled mess in the form of a four-way tie for second place with all teams at 4-3.
The Lady Raiders twice took a two-run lead, the second time jumping ahead 4-2 after the top half of the fifth inning.
However, the Lady Indians remained resilient, pulling within one run with back-to-back doubles by Alex Castillo and Brisa Pennington.
In the late innings, Fullerton’s Amanda Flores was clutch, providing both the game-tying RBI in the seventh inning and the game-winning RBI in the ninth inning.
One out away from sealing a 4-3 victory in the seventh inning, the Lady Indians struck for three consecutive base hits, the third by Flores scoring Castillo from second base.
Two innings later, Flores was up again with Castillo on third base. The junior, who also took over in the pitching circle during the fifth inning, singled to right field to bring home Castillo for the walk off win.
Leandra Jew provided a lift at the leadoff spot for the Lady Raiders as she reached base in four of her five plate appearances and scored three runs.
Katie Amaral finished 2-for-3 with two RBI, driving in two runs with a sacrifice fly in the first inning and a single in the fifth inning. Jew came around to score in the third inning on a triple by Chelsea Purcell, which gave the Lady Raiders a 2-0 lead.
Pennington was hit by a pitch to start the Fullerton half of the fourth inning and Flores singled before Missy Poti brought them both home with a double to tie up the ball game.
Sonora responded with three consecutive singles to start the fifth inning. Jew came home on a throwing error by Fullerton catcher Ally Houser and Amaral singled home Zoe Juarez to give Sonora a 4-2 lead.
The Lady Raiders will try to get back on track with a league game against Buena Park at home, Thursday afternoon.
