Cypress Falls Short and Moves to the Elimination Bracket
Palmer scored a run and batted in a run Saturday evening. |
May 19th, 2007
Chino Hills, Calif. - Cypress stumbled Saturday night on their path to defending their 2006 State Championship. The Chargers let the game get away from them allowing eleven Mt. Sac hits while giving up two errors in the 2-8 loss to the Mounties. Cypress must now win three straight to defend their championship. Freshman first baseman Nicole Palmer came in mid-game to bat in a run and score one to pace the Charger offense.
After both teams went down in order in the first, Mt. Sac got it going in the second with three runs off of four hits. It got worse for Cypress when the Mounties put up back to back homers in the fourth to take a commanding 5-0 lead. The Chargers had a chance in the fourth with two runners on. Sophomore catcher Gabrielle Woody hit a hard one to center that came just short of a home run. Woody had another close one in the sixth with a deep shot that couldn’t make it over the fence.
Cypress broke the shut out in the fifth. Palmer singled to second, advanced to second then third on an error. Freshman right fielder Caitlin McGrath converted with a slapped single up the middle allowing Palmer to score. Despite Cypress’s efforts, Mt. Sac was not done extending their lead with another run in the sixth and a two run home run in the seventh for the 8-1 lead.
The Chargers had one more shot for a miracle come back in the bottom of the eighth. Sophomore left fielder Sabrina Hernandez singled to short and reached second with a single from sophomore center fielder Jade Espinoza. Both moved into scoring position off a wild pitch. Palmer grounded out for an RBI as Hernandez raced home. The Cypress hopes for a comeback ended on the next batter conceding to the loss. Cypress freshman Sydney Rae Woolley suffered her first loss of the season falling to 17-1. Woody finished off the game for Cypress pitching the last four innings striking out three batters and yielding five hits and three earned runs.
Cypress falls to 52-5 and fall to the elimination bracket to face Cerritos for the third time this season. Cypress defeated Cerritos in the second round with a 7-0 shutout while Cerritos defeated Cypress earlier in the regular season. Cypress’s last day of softball will begin at 10:00 am tomorrow where the winner will face Mt. Sac while the loser’s season will end. Cypress must defeat Cerritos and then Mt. Sac twice in a row to repeat as champions.
