Vaqueros split a pair at Orange Coast

Monica Salas, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, hit her first homer vs. Orange Coast. She's third on the team with a .407 batting average. (Photo by Chuck Knowles)
Monica Salas, a sophomore from Dos Pueblos High, hit her first homer vs. Orange Coast. She's third on the team with a .407 batting average. (Photo by Chuck Knowles)

SBCC split two softball games on Saturday at Orange Coast in Costa Mesa, falling to No. 8 El Camino 8-5 and edging Orange Coast 6-5.

The Vaqueros, ranked No. 10 in Southern Cal, are 7-2. El Camino improved to 8-2 and OCC is 2-8.

The Vaqueros took a 3-0 lead vs. El Camino on Alyssa Richter's groundout RBI and a run-scoring double by Lauren Hope Ballard in the third. The Warriors took the lead with four in the third and the Vaqueros tied it 4-4 when Michaela Peters singled, went to second on a passed ball, to third on a groundout and scored on an error.

The Warriors went ahead to stay at 6-4 on a homer by Brianna Devellano and an RBI groundout by Ashley Machado in the fourth. Machado went 1-3 and had four of her team's six stolen bases.

Ballard went 2-4 with two doubles and an RBI for the Vaqueros.

"We had seven hits and we left eight on-base," said coach Paula Congleton. "El Camino was aggressive on the basepaths and had back-to-back doubles to score two in the sixth."

In the win over Orange Coast, left fielder Sloane Greeley went 2-3 with two doubles and three RBIs. Richter was 2-3 with an RBI and Monica Salas hit her first homer of the year – a solo shot in the third that made it 2-0.

Richter has hit safely in eight of nine games and ranks 10th in the state with 15 RBIs.

The Pirates went ahead 3-2 and 4-3 before SBCC scored two in the fifth on a walk to Salas, a double by Richter and a two-run double off Greeley's bat. The Vaqueros went ahead 6-4 in the sixth on a single by Richter and a double by Greeley.

Rebecca Pullen (2-1) tossed five innings in relief and got the win. She gave up five runs (three earned) on seven hits.

SBCC returns to WSC North play on Tuesday when L.A. Pierce visits for a doubleheader at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.