Cats claw down Seahawks

The Saddleback softball team rallied for a 4-2 victory over Los Angeles Harbor College on Monday night at the Saddleback softball diamond.   The Bobcats scored three times in the fifth inning to rally for the win.

Saddleback's bats were pretty silent for most of the game as the Bobcats had just one run and three hits heading to the bottom of the fifth inning down 2-1 on the scoreboard.  Los Angeles Harbor decided to make a change on the mound at the beginning of the inning, and it cost the Seahawks on the scoreboard. 

Saddleback led off the inning with three straight walks, all of which came around to score.  The Bobcats took the lead with one out in the inning when Mia Calderon hit a grounder to the shortstop, who tried to throw the ball to home plate for a force out.  Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the ball sailed on the throw over the head of the catcher, allowing both Cristen Areopagita and Kianna Gutierrez to score for a 3-2 lead.  The Bobcats then added an insurance run when Ivy Vasquez put down a perfect sacrifice bunt to score Alyssa Jimenez. 

Saddleback's three-run rally was all they would need as Desiree McGruder held down the fort on the mound.  McGruder gave up a couple of singles in the sixth inning but got out of the inning with a strikeout with two runners on base.  She then retired the Seahawks in order in the top half of the seventh to improve to 11-10 on the season.

Saddleback is now 12-10 overall following the win.  The Bobcats will play again on Wednesday at Santiago Canyon at 3:00 PM.