SUBURBAN LEAGUE SOFTBALL: Artesia once again victim of big scoring inning, crushed by Cerritos

By Loren Kopff

Suburban League victories are hard to come by for Artesia’s softball program but one can’t fault the Pioneers for trying, or even staying in the game in the early innings. Although the Pioneers were no match for Cerritos in a 13-1 defeat this past Wednesday, it was quite interesting for the first two innings.
The Lady Dons scratched across only three runs during the first two frames and got just two hits off of senior pitcher Chelsea Small. But in the bottom of the third, Cerritos (14-6 overall, 7-2 in league action) sent 15 batters to the plate and scored nine runs. It marked the third time in seven league games that the Pioneers were within striking range before the fourth inning.
On Mar. 30, Artesia trailed Norwalk 3-2 heading into the fourth before losing 6-2. On Apr. 13, a 4-0 Glenn lead after three innings resulted in a 7-1 win and two days later, the Pioneers squandered a 5-2 lead after five innings. The Lady Eagles scored seven runs in the top of the sixth and four more in the seventh. Artesia head coach John Zamora admitted he needed to change his starting pitcher sooner when opponents were having those big innings.
But in order to score runs, the team needs to get hits and that’s something the Pioneers are having trouble with thus far. Against Cerritos sophomore Kaylilani Minami, the Pioneers got only four hits and in the last four games, Artesia has combined for 19 hits
“We’re not hitting right now,” Zamora said. “When we don’t have the pressure on the other team, it makes it very difficult to gain our confidence and have the pitcher pitch with a little more confidence.”
Minami sat down nine of the first 10 batters she faced before Small led off the fourth with a double to right field. After she moved to third on a passed ball and Minami’s sixth of 10 strikeouts, senior center fielder Reanna Guzman singled in Small.
In addition to the lack of hitting, the Pioneers (4-10, 0-7) have been plagued by errors. In the past four games, Artesia has committed 17 errors. In contrast, when the team began the season winning four of its first six games, Artesia had six miscues.
“The thing I have noticed is they are making more errors,” Zamora said. “We work on those things every day in practice. We have a mixture of girls who are young and we have [some seniors]. The senior girls are trying to battle through it and the underclassmen are trying to catch it.”
Cerritos freshman shortstop Lilianna Herrera went two for three with three runs batted in and a run scored while Minami, freshman catcher Jasmine Javier and junior third baseman Alyssa Marquez all had a pair of hits. Senior left fielder Nikki Rosenberger drove in a pair of runs and junior center fielder Sarah Smith was hit by a pitch three times, scored three runs and is now batting .625 in league action but has reached base 27 times in 35 trips to the plate.
The Pioneers will host Cerritos today, then visit Bellflower on Wednesday. As for the Lady Dons, who recently fell out of the California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section Division II top 10 poll, they will wrap up the regular season with a home and home series against Norwalk with the home portion on Wednesday.