Season ends for Colusa juniors

After living on the edge for two games, the Colusa junior softball all-stars finally ran out of miracles Sunday night at Tom Abe Field in Wheatland.

Despite a sterling performance by Tiffany Friel, Colusa fell to Red Bluff, 7-1, in the Section 2 championship game.

Red Bluff advances to the Division Tournament in Auburn.

Colusa has been battling long odds ever since it lost its tournament opener Tuesday to Eel River. It had to battle back through the elimination bracket, first beating Lake Oroville on Friday, 3-0, then Eel River, 10-9, on Saturday.

“The girls played well,” Colusa coach Cindy Friel said. “They fought hard all the way.”

Colusa buried itself in a hole in the first inning when Red Bluff pushed across three runs. With two outs, Kaitlann Weber roped a double into the left-center field gap.

Red Bluff added three more runs in the third. Krista Rodriguez lined a single to right field to score one run and Brooke Clatty drilled a double to left-center to drive in the other two.

Red Bluff capped its scoring in the sixth. Sami Jarvis grounded a two-out base hit to right field that appeared to score two runs, but the second runner was called out at third base because she failed to touch the bag.

“We didn’t hit the ball like we are capable of doing,” coach Friel said. “At least we started to hit the ball late.”

Colusa mustered just three hits through the first six innings before Tiffany Friel led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple into the gap in right-center. One out later, Katy Tarr followed with a triple to straightaway center to score Friel.

Tarr was thrown out at the plate trying to score. She never hesitated rounding the bases, but was easily through out at home. “When I asked her why she kept going, she told me she wanted a home run,” coach Friel said.

Tiffany Friel went the distance in the circle, scattering seven hits while striking out 12. She also walked seven.

“She pitched a great game,” coach Friel said.

At the plate, Friel went 3-for-3.

On Saturday, Jani Bowen tossed a complete-game victory to lead Colusa to a 10-9 victory over Eel River.

The final score was not indicative of Bowen’s performance. Of the nine runs she surrendered, only three of them were earned.

But Bowen’s biggest moment came when her team needed it most.

After some shaky defense led to three Eel River runs in the seventh, Bowen covered home plate in an attempt to tag out a runner and was involved in a collision with Eel River’s Kelly Chambers.

She said she felt like she had been knocked out and had to be helped off the field, but stayed in to get the game’s final out and send her team to the Sectional tournament championship series against Red Bluff tonight.

“I wasn’t sure I could do it after I got hit in the face,” Bowen said. “My head hurt so bad, but I figured I could go out there and finish it.”

Second baseman Katy Tarr went 2-for-4 at the plate with two RBI and a run scored. Defensively she had six assists and also turned an unassisted double play.

Colusa lost to Eel River 10-9 on Thursday.

Colusa was in the driver’s seat early, leading 9-2 after four innings, but costly errors and timely hitting by Eel River made that seven-run lead vanish quickly.

Colusa made 10 errors, leading to eight runs. Only two of the runs given up by Colusa were earned. Manager Tony Gonzalez said it was his team’s first loss of the season