Charger Hopes for the Semifinals Slip Away in the Final Inning

Frazier had two homeruns Friday night.

Cypress had as much as a five run lead over Mt. Sac.

May 15, 2009

Final Stats

Salinas, Calif. - Mt. Sac and Cypress proved why they have such a historic rivalry Saturday night as they battled through a two-and-a-half hour game that ended dramatically with Cypress losing by a run, 8-7. Cypress led by as much as five in game six before Mt. Sac mounted a comeback capped off by a three-run walk-off homerun in the bottom of the seventh to defeat Cypress. Mt. Sac evened their season series with Cypress just in time doing it when it counted in the State Championship tournament. Freshman third baseman Kim Frazier led Cypress producing two homeruns in the game for three RBI and three runs scored.

The game proved to be a game of momentum as it shifted from team to team throughout the game. Mt. Sac started with the lead thanks to a Charger error in the first. Cypress jumped to the lead in the third thanks to two homeruns. Frazier hit a lead-off homerun for Cypress’s first run. Sophomore center fielder Kayla Van Dieren followed with a single and then a Charger walk to set up sophomore catcher Vanessa Claro for a two-run homerun and a 3-1 Cypress lead.

Mt. Sac stayed in it with a run in the bottom of the third but Cypress stretched their lead from there with a second homerun by Frazier in the fourth for two more runs and the two run lead.

Cypress kept it going in the sixth. Frazier walked followed by a ground-rule double by Van Dieren. Freshman first baseman Vanessa Alvarado gave Cypress their biggest lead of the game 7-2 by driving in both runners with a single through the right side.

The momentum switched sides in the bottom of the sixth though as Mt. Sac came out swinging. The Mounties led off with two straight singles followed by a three-run homerun cutting the Charger lead to two.

Cypress tried to stretch their lead in their last at-bat with the bases loaded but came up empty. The Mounties rallied in the bottom of the seventh with a single and a walk. With two-outs down, Mt. Sac took a pitch deep to left center over the fence for the three-run walk-off homerun.

Freshman Roni Alvarado (13-6) suffered the loss for Cypress pitching one inning. Sophomore Natasha Ruiz pitched the first 5.2 innings allowing four earned runs on 11 hits.

Cypress (46-10) falls to the elimination bracket where they will play at 2:00 pm against the winner of the noon game between Riverside (37-14) and Cerritos (39-10-1).