Cats blast Rams in five innings

The Saddleback softball team defeated Victor Valley College, 18-2, on Thursday afternoon at Bobcats Field.  The 18 runs were the most since 2015.

Saddleback fell behind 2-0 in the top half of the first inning when Victor Valley came out swinging the bats.  The Rams had a hit batsman and consecutive hits from Jade Whitman and Haylee Stanislaw in taking the early advantage.

Saddleback cut the lead in half in the bottom half of the first inning when Colette Howren doubled home Ehva Cifuentes-Zombulovic.  It was the first of three hits for Howren, who has been red hot the past two games.

Saddleback turned the game upside down in the bottom half of the second inning when they scored five times in taking a 6-2 lead.  All five runs were unearned after a defensive miscue from Victor Valley.  The Bobcats took advantage of the mistake with a triple from Ka'ui Garcia and a home run from Cifuentes-Zombulovic. It was her team-leading seventh homer of the season and one of three hits for the day.

Saddleback blew the game wide open in the bottom half of the third inning when they scored six more times in taking a 12-2 lead.  Once again, all six runs were unearned after the Rams committed an error with two outs in the inning.  The Bobcats had five straight hits following the error, including a laser beam homer from Howren that caromed off the flagpole in left-center field. 

The bottom of the fourth had a similar feeling as Victor Valley had two errors in the inning in giving up six more unearned runs.  The Cats made them pay with back-to-back triples from Ka'ui Garcia and Cifuentes- Zombulovic to push the lead to 15-2.  Following a pair of walks, Lehua Garcia then stepped up and cleared the bases with a double to right-center field for an 18-2 lead.

Saddleback started Kylee Cammarato on the mound, and she pitched a run-rule-shortened complete game in improving to 5-2 on the season.  Cammarato struck out six while spreading around three hits on the afternoon.

Saddleback's 2-3-4 hitters of Ka'ui Garcia, Cifuentes-Zombulovic and Howren finished 9-for-10 with eight runs-scored and 12 RBI. 

Saddleback is now 8-5 overall for the season following the win.  The Bobcats have the weekend off before traveling to Mt. San Jacinto College on Tuesday.  Saddleback and Mt. San Jacinto are scheduled to start at 2:00 PM In San Jacinto. 

GAME NOTE:  The 18 runs for Saddleback were the most runs scored in a game since scoring 18 runs against Orange Coast College (18-3) on March 3, 2015.