Photo by Mike Mann
Softball:
By Brian Reed-Baiotto, Sports Editor
There was every reason for the La Verne softball program to be tight.
After all, they were making their first appearance in the Little League World Series on Tuesday night in Greenville, North Carolina.
It was being streamed throughout the world on ESPN+.
And La Verne was facing a Pitt County team that not only plays minutes from the tournament’s location, they were also far more adjusted to the brutal North Carolina humidity than were the girls from Southern California.
But fear not, because Katie Coldiron had the ball in her hand, and La Verne cruised to a 9-2 victory in a first-round contest.
Coldiron went five innings to earn the win, and allowed a pair of unearned runs on three hits.
She issued two walks and struck out four North Carolina batters.
Ainsley Doornik provided a scoreless sixth inning in relief.
Michelle Jenkins walked and scored for Pitt County.
Harper Bradley, Sarah Booth, Kamdyn Haislip, Logan Smith and Alana Albritton had one single apiece for North Carolina.
Haislip got the loss.
She went all five innings and allowed nine runs (five earned) on seven hits.
Haislip walked three and registered five strikeouts.
The La Verne offense struck for three runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 3-0 lead.
They got two more in the third, and put the game on ice with four fourth-inning runs.
Coldiron helped her own cause with an RBI double.
Laila Washington went 2-for-4 and scored one run.
Ryan Torres singled twice and scored, and Laney Sweeney scored twice in Tuesday’s win.
Sofia Ayaberrano walked, singled, scored twice and had an RBI.
Ava Fisher singled, scored and drove in a run.
Erin Garcia walked and scored.
Bailey Osborne scored. and Kylie Chavez had an RBI.
Up next: La Verne will face Chesterfield tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4 Pacific time.
The Virginia team had a first-round bye.
It will be streamed on ESPN+.
Quotable:
La Verne pitcher, Katie Coldiron: “I was really nervous in the beginning, but when I got into a rhythm and my defense made plays behind me, I was able to settle down pretty quickly. I felt like my screwball was working well today. Ava got a big hit, and once we got a couple of runs, I was able to take a deep breath and the pressure seemed to go away. It was really hot and weather we’re not used to in California, but we just went out and competed.”
Box Score:
NC: 0-0-0-2-0-0-(2)
LV: 0-3-2-4-0-X-(9)
Win: Katie Coldiron
Loss: Kamdyn Haislip
2B: Katie Coldiron (LV)
Records: North Carolina (0-1); La Verne (1-0)
Photo of Hayden Geeting courtesy of Amanda Lin Boys Tennis: Thanks to Maranatha tennis for this report: With their hopes for qualifying for the playoffs riding on this match, Maranatha knew what they had to do. It wasn’t impossible. The plan on how to get it done was in place; but to do it, they […]
Baseball: The San Dimas victory tour continued on Wednesday at Northview High School. SDHS claimed a 16-2 Valle Vista League victory in five innings. The Saints out-hit the Vikings, 21-4, and they had a 7-1 advantage in extra-base hits. Through the first seven Valle Vista League games, SDHS has outscored its opponents by a combined […]
Baseball: Pasadena earned its first two-game Pacific League sweep of the 2024 season. After a 2-0 victory on Tuesday, the Bulldogs defeated the Tornados, 4-2, on Wednesday. Adrian Oseguera went the first 1 1/3 innings, and he allowed one run on two hits. Reese Kim did the heavy lifting, going 5 2/3 and he surrendered […]
Baseball: If you saw the Baseline League standings, you might write off Upland as a bottom tier program in 2024. But that would be both inaccurate and unfair. In fact, the Highlanders are just nine runs from being 8-3 instead of 3-8 in league games. And they’re a very young team. After falling 2-1 at […]
Baseball: Damien continues its quest for a Baseline League championship. The Spartans edged Rancho Cucamonga, 2-1, on Wednesday, and they remain one-half a game back of Los Osos with four to play. Nathan Ries went six innings to earn the win. Ries surrendered one unearned run on two hits. He walked one and struck out […]
Photos by Beth Oualline Baseball: Bonita didn’t waste any time in putting Claremont away early. Literally. The Bearcats scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first inning before the Wolfpack got a single out. And they would cruise to a 13-1 victory. With four games to play in the regular season, BHS remains two […]
Photos by Gwen Pointer Baseball: Covina got an outstanding effort from Declan Bowers on Wednesday. He went the distance in a 6-1 Valle Vista League victory over Charter Oak. Bowers scattered six hits, didn’t issue a walk and struck out a pair of COHS batters. Bowers needed just 76 pitches to finish what he started […]
Baseball: Los Osos kept its half-game lead over Damien atop the Baseline League standings on Wednesday. The Grizzlies scored four runs in the bottom of the first inning, and they cruised to a 12-2 victory over Etiwanda. In the first two games of this three-game series, LOHS has outscored EHS, 28-3. Michael Aleman was charged […]
Baseball: Kaleb Derosier put Pasadena on his back in Tuesday’s 2-0 Pacific League victory over Hoover. Derosier tossed a two-hit shutout, walked one and struck out nine HHS batters. Derosier struck out seven separate Tornados at least once, and he got Alex Weimar three times. At the plate, Derosier had a sac fly in the […]
