SAN GABRIEL VALLEY LEAGUE SOFTBALL: Gahr still searching for clutch hits, falls to Paramount

By Loren Kopff

In the last two seasons, third place in the San Gabriel Valley League has come down to Gahr and Paramount. Last season, the Pirates had already clinched the league’s final automatic playoff bid before taking the field against Gahr on the last day of the regular season.
Paramount won that game and this past Tuesday, the Gladiators were hoping to extract some revenge and get the midseason advantage on third place. But the Pirates erupted for six runs in the top of the third inning and went on to crush the hosts 8-3 that left Gahr head coach Mike Rogers one frustrated person. He was frustrated at his team’s inability to get that one key hit with runners in scoring position. He was frustrated in his team’s inability to cash in on a bases loaded, nobody out situation in the fifth with the top of the lineup coming up to bat. Most of all, he was frustrated because he saw his team drop to 6-12 overall, 2-2 in the league and still two games with league leading Warren yet to play.
“I felt we were going to do a lot better job than what we did,” Rogers said. “I felt that we underperformed. We left a lot of base runners stranded once again and I don’t know why that is. I’m very frustrated right now.”
Gahr senior pitcher Marissa Frese, in just her third start of the season since returning from a torn meniscus injury, was rock solid in the first two innings, getting five ground ball outs and throwing 20 pitches. But all of that changed in the third inning. With two on and one out, Monica Caporal singled in Melissa Yepez. After Frese walked Jenny Collazo to load the bases, Sydney Roumeliotis took the first pitch she saw and smacked a single that ricocheted off of Frese’s right knee, past senior shortstop Erica Willig and into the outfield for two more runs. Rogers immediately pulled Frese from the game and replaced her with freshman Mel Varela. Four of Paramount’s seven hits came in that inning and 10 batters came to the plate.
“In the first couple of innings, she was good,” Rogers said of Frese. “She had good command of her pitches. I felt in the third, she got a little tired and obviously they caught up to her. They were hitting the ball hard up the middle.”
Gahr was being held in check by Lily Cornejo through the first four innings, who yielded a pair of hits to junior catcher Krystal Purkey and one to senior third baseman Nani Mejia. Purkey now leads the team with a .462 average. But in the fifth, Cornejo gave up base hits to junior designated player Jessica Morales and senior right fielder Jessica Soto sandwiched around a walk to senior first baseman Karina Gonzalez.
However, Cornejo induced senior second baseman Jasmine Ruiz to ground into a double play, then get senior center fielder Alyssa Nava to ground out to end the scoring threat.
“That broke our backs,” Rogers said. “When I got them over here and talked to them [after the game], I told them there needs to be plate discipline. You have to have a plan. Their pitcher was getting tired and they needed to start working her deep in the count.”
The Gladiators finally broke through in the final inning when Morales doubled and Soto reached on an infield single with one out. Ruiz followed with a run scoring hit and Soto, who also had two hits, scored on an error. Ruiz would later score on a wild pitch.
Gahr hosted Downey on Apr. 28 and will play its next three games on the road in succession beginning with Tuesday’s encounter at Dominguez. Wednesday’s game will be at Warren and Thursday’s tilt is with Lynwood. The rematch with Paramount will be on May 12, the last day of the regular season.
“If everything plays out, that’s going to be the game where whoever wins that game is going to go to the playoffs,” Rogers said.