Freshmen pace Pierce softball past Williams

A 3-run triple by freshman Riley Voorhees in the top of the 4th inning broke open a two-run ballgame and propelled Pierce High to a 15-3 victory against Williams.

Four freshmen crowded into the top five spots in the Bears' lineup during Wednesday's game in Williams, and they went 8 for 13 with seven RBI's and scored eight runs.

Voorhees led the youth movement, which includes Carissa Cabral, Julia Dye and Marina Delgado, by hitting 4 for 4 with a triple, four RBIs and scoring three times.

"(Voorhees) had been making great contact but popping it up too much. She's really been working on that and I'm glad she was able to break through and do everything she's been practicing," Pierce coach Jennifer Barham said.

Early in the game, Williams kept it close before the Bears' aggressiveness on the base paths forced the Yellowjackets into errors.

Ashlin Covarrubias escaped a jam in the 1st inning when catcher Elizabeth Mendez threw out an attempted- base stealer, and Covarrubias induced a pop-out and a ground-out, stranding two runners.

The Bears scored an unearned run in the 2nd inning and put up a crooked number in the 3rd.

Dye and Voorhees led off the 3rd with consecutive pop-ups that dropped untouched near second base and senior Nikki Herrera reached on an error to load the bases, before Delgado walked in a run.

Covarrubias got the next three batters out, two on strikeouts, but a run scored on an RBI ground-out by sophomore Cheyenne Mitchell, and another on a wild pitch.

The Yellowjackets responded in the bottom half of the inning when Mendez led off with a bunt single and Rachael Wilson walked. Mendez scored on a wild pitch and Wilson crossed the plate on an RBI ground-out by Cassandra Lopez to make it 4-2.

Voorhees broke the game open in the next inning, driving in senior Ellen Hansen, Cabral and Dye. Herrera and Mitchell added RBI ground-outs later in the inning, pushing the score to 9-2.

Williams loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom half of the 4th, but Pierce pitcher Aloysa Anderson, a senior, nearly escaped unscathed. Anderson notched a strikeout and a fielder's choice at home, before an error allowed a run to score. Anderson got out of the inning when a Yellowjacket runner was tagged out at home trying to score on a passed ball.

Pierce scored six more times in the 5th inning on run-scoring singles by Dye, Voorhees, Mitchell and junior Haleigh Shadinger.

First-year Williams coach Heather Covarrubias is still moving players around to different positions as she tries to find the best lineup, she said.

"I've (coached) these girls in Little League so I'm coming back to my girls, but it's just starting all over again. We're just a young team this year and still trying to figure out who can play where," Covarrubias said.

Mendez and Catherine Jorge went 2 for 3 for the Yellowjackets, and Wilson walked twice and scored a run. Covarrubias struck out five in five innings but took the loss.

"I think that this year we're doing a lot better than we have in the past, we're getting on the board this year. All-in-all I think it's going to be a pretty good season," she said.

Pierce collected 14 hits, including three by Hansen, who doubled and scored two runs. Anderson picked up the victory, striking out nine in five innings.

Williams (1-3) returns to action on Friday against Modoc in the Maxwell Tournament. Pierce (3-3) travels to Willows on Wednesday for a Sacramento Valley League game.

CONTACT Kirk Barron at 458-2121 or kbarron@tcnpress.com.