Foster, Wendell help Vaqueros rally for two wins

Madison Foster went 3-7 with a triple and four RBIs on Friday and SBCC rallied for a pair of victories on the first day of the Mt. San Jacinto President's Day Softball Tournament at Wheatfield Park in Menifee.

The Vaqueros (6-5) erased a 3-1 deficit with three runs in the fifth to beat Mt. San Jacinto 4-3 in the morning game. They survived a six-run fourth inning by L.A. Mission and overcame an 8-3 deficit with six runs of their own in the fifth on the way to a 10-8 victory.

Santa Barbara was trailing L.A. Mission 8-3 in the top of the fifth when Foster unloaded a two-out, two-run triple that tied the game 8-8. She scored on a throwing error to give the Vaqueros a 9-8 advantage.

Foster, a freshman second baseman from Frederick, Colo., was 2-4 in the second game with four RBIs and two runs. She had an RBI single in the third inning of Game 2 and Sloane Greeley knocked in two runs with a single that gave the Vaqueros a 3-1 lead.

Brandi Almaraz was 3-4 against Mission with a triple and two runs. Kayla Sanchez was 2-4 with three RBIs. Mission committed seven errors leading to six unearned runs.

Calista Wendell pitched all seven innings in the opener, holding the Eagles to three runs on eight hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Wendell was 2-3 at the plate with a triple and two runs. Wendell (4-2) threw the last two-plus innings of the Mission game and picked up her second win of the day.

"Today was a full team effort," said coach Justine Bosio. "I was proud of my girls for battling in both games for come-from-behind wins. It's awesome to see everyone stepping up in different ways.

"Calista pitched very well in both games by getting ahead of batters and hitting her spots. We got two good wins today and tomorrow will be good competition as well."

The Vaqueros will play two more in the Mt. San Jacinto Tourney on Saturday. They'll take on Grossmont at 9:30 a.m. and East L.A. at noon.