Rams’ starting pitcher Nicole Lobato let out a visible sigh of
relief after getting Jaguars leadoff hitter Janae Grimes to swing
at strike three to end the drama and salvage a breathtaking 10-8
victory for the Rams.
GILROY
A re-occurring theme has derailed a few of the Gavilan College softball team’s efforts during the 2010-11 season — late-game woes.
Manager Nikki Dequin jogged her memory and said “there have been several” to describe the amount of games where the Rams have ended up on the losing side after leading late in ball games.
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Dequin didn’t have to think back very far for the last time it happened, though. It was on Tuesday. The Rams led the West Valley 2-0, on the road, in the bottom of the seventh. They lost 3-2.
So it came as no surprise when Wednesday’s Coast Conference South tilt against San Jose City College (18-12, 12-4 conf.) came down to the wire. And, in some respects, it seemed only fitting that the Rams grabbed a 10-2 advantage through four innings and slowly watched as the Jaguars plated runs in their final three at-bats to make matters interesting.
Rams’ starting pitcher Nicole Lobato let out a visible sigh of relief after getting Jaguars leadoff hitter Janae Grimes to swing at strike three to end the drama and salvage a breathtaking 10-8 victory for the Rams.
“At this point, (this win) means everything,” Lobato said. “That really boosted everything for us. That really gave us the confidence to finish the season strong.”
Not only did the win against the first-place Jaguars put an exclamation point on Sophomore Day, but also, now at 8-8 in conference, the Rams still have an outside shot at the playoffs. They need some help from other schools and must beat Cabrillo on Tuesday in order for that to happen, however.
But all things considering …
“It feels good to finally finish a game,” Dequin said. “This time it went our way. I’m proud of them for finishing strong and hopefully they play this way against Cabrillo next week.”
A Jaguars’ run in the top of the first quickly became irrelevant as the Rams came out swinging against Jaguars ace Molly Vivo in their half of the first.
Three batters in, the Rams knotted things as Hailey Nelson reached on an error, advanced to second on Stephanie Doting’s sacrifice bunt and scored on Adrianna Osuna’s RBI poke up the middle. Lobato chased Osuna home with a double to the fence for one of her three RBI on the day.
The Rams posted two more runs in the second on a Doting double, and tacked on a fifth run in the third via Shayna Osuna’s base running and score on a wild pitch.
Allie Hernandez answered with an RBI double for the Jaguars in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to 5-2. However, the Rams countered in a big way.
Gavilan recorded just eight hits in the contest, but the timing of each couldn’t have been better.
The Rams sent 11 batters to the plate in a five-run fourth, highlighted by two-run singles from Lobato and Alexandria Ferrel, and Aubrey Ayala’s bloop base hit for the fifth run and the 10-2 cushion.
“We came in here more relaxed this time,” Lobato said. “We knew we had to get it done.”
The Jaguars, though, proved why they are the reigning conference champs and well on their way to another title, touching up Lobato, who had been cruising up until that point, for four runs, signaling a pitching change.
Samantha Bejarano spelled Lobato and recorded the final out on the fifth to keep the score 10-6.
“It was difficult pulling her out, but I felt like we needed a momentum change,” Dequin said. “And Sam was able to do that for us.”
The Jaguars tapped Bejarano for one run in the sixth with one out and two runners on. A refreshed Lobato came back in to record the final two outs.
“That (break) gave me the rest that I needed,” Lobato said. “It gave me a little pick-me-up and I was good to go.”
A no-doubter to deep center by Hernandez narrowed the gap to 10-8 in the top of the seventh, but Lobato settled down, getting two of her seven strikeouts to cut short the last-ditch comeback.
“I guess we just like the pressure,” Lobato said.
