Sports
Big Inning Buries Softball Squad
A team made up of all-stars from Loma Linda and Grand Terrace Little Leagues are forced to play an extra game after a 17-7 loss to a team representing four leagues.
In softball, one good inning can put a team right back into a game.
Follow that good inning up by giving up your lead, and that can spell disaster.
That's what happened for a team of all-stars from Loma Linda and Grand Terrace Little Leagues on Tuesday night.
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Tournament host Ken Hubbs Little League -- itself a combination of players from Ken Hubbs, Rialto Park, Rialto North and Rialto Eastern -- bounced back after surrendering a 5-0 second inning lead, scoring 12 of the next 13 runs to win 17-7.
Playing as Grand Terrace, the team will play Bloomington Little League tonight at 7 p.m. in the District 21 Junior Division Softball Tournament, with the winner playing in Thursday's championship game against Ken Hubbs.
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Despite giving up their short-lived lead, Grand Terrace was still in the game until the sixth inning. And that's when the wheels came off.
Ken Hubbs sent 12 players to the plate, scoring seven times with the help of four Grand Terrace errors.
"It's like a triple effect," said team manager Victor Meza. "One bad mistake leads to another, leads to another, and then next thing you know, you've given up three, four or five runs."
Grand Terrace's big inning was the second, as they sent nine batters to the plate -- the first six all reaching base -- and scoring six times.
But Ken Hubbs manager Jose Martinez had confidence his team would bounce back after surrendering the lead. The message to his team was to stay the course.
"These girls, even the bench girls, are strong players," he said. "The team is solid all around."
And after getting the lead, reliever Cassandra Rodriguez shut the door, striking out four of the 10 batters she faced in the final three innings.
At the plate, Ken Hubbs was paced in part by Claudia Garcia, who was 2-for-5 officially, but reached in all five plate appearances. She also scored once and had two RBI. Subsitute Melissa Lopez stole three bases and scored three times.
On the Grand Terrace side, leadoff hitter Jessi Lewis was 1-for-3 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored. Hollyn Bakland, one of the three players from Loma Linda, reached all in all three plate appearances, scoring a run on an 0-for-2 night.
The other Loma Linda players on the team are Cassie Reeder, who was the team's starting pitcher Tuesday, and Breann Tarin.
