Salinas – Despite battling bronchitis, Tricia Goularte pitched a five-inning shutout for the Live Oak softball team against Mountain View in the first round of the Central Coast Section Division II playoffs Wednesday. The game at the Salinas Sports Complex was called after the bottom of the fifth on the mercy rule.
The 10-0 victory pits the No. 6 Acorns against No. 3 Mitty, who had a first round bye. The game is in Salinas Saturday at 10:15am.
“Our offense was great. They came out really strong today,” said Goularte. “They (the Acorn defense) made awesome plays and totally backed me up. Bronchitis makes you exhausted, but I know I have to pull through and help my team as much as I can.”
Sarah Locarnini gave Live Oak a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second when she drilled a two-run home run deep to left field with two outs. Alyssa Adamo extended the Acorns lead to 4-0 with a triple to right center, driving Taylor Sutton, who had been hit by a pitch.
Leading 4-0, the Acorns broke the game open in the bottom of the third inning. Brittney Ondich lead things off for Live Oak by running out an infield single. Kelly McDonald followed with a drive to center field that was caught for the first out. Amanda Rosevear then drove in a run with a single through the infield, 5-0. Danielle Austin drove in another run with a single to left field to give the Acorns a 6-0 lead and the Live Oak bats weren’t finished yet. Locarnini got a RBI with a bunt single up the third baseline to make the score 7-0, and Sutton drove in a run with a double through the middle.
“We were expecting overall teamwork, communication and solid defense,” said McDonald. “We came out and played our game and really worked together as a team and had awesome offense.”
The Spartans batters were unable to get anything going against Goularte and the Live Oak defense.
The Acorns added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth.
Locarnini went 3-for-3 in the game with three RBIs and a walk, while Adamo went 2-for-2 with an RBI and two walks. Ondich was 2-for-4 with an RBI and Rosevear went 2-for-3 with an RBI. Herrera, Austin and Sutton each went 1-for-3 with a RBI.
“That was a fun one for CCS,” said Live Oak coach Barry McDonnell. “It was really fun to watch all the kids contribute to the game. Tricia was outstanding. She really gutted it out. She came out and threw a great game today. She was hitting the locations we were calling and her off-speed stuff was working well.”
The Acorns will have their work cut out for them on Saturday when they take on the always strong Mitty Monarchs in the second round.
“If we played defensively like we did today we have a good chance of winning,” said McDonnell.
McDonald added, “We have to do the same thing we did today, support our pitcher and come out hitting.”
