Temescal beats Heritage softball team in extra innings

Sydney Farmer connects for a home run and celebrates as she heads around the bases. (Photos by Rick Rowell)

By Paige Mendez, Correspondent

The Heritage High School softball team lost 6-5 in extra innings to host Temescal Canyon in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 3 playoffs on Thursday.

The Patriots took the lead early in the first two innings with aggressive base running. Both runners who scored had stolen bases on their way around. Sydney Farmer kept the rally going with a solo home run in the fifth inning.

Trailing 3-0, the Titans didn’t counter until the sixth, when an error at third base let their first run in. That was followed by two more runs, possibly helped out by the huge crowd of their peers that had started chanting at the mound. But junior pitcher Cassidy Shaw shut down the scoring and the hecklers (for the time being at least) with two strikeouts and a flyout. The teams were tied 3-3 after six.

“You just learn to tune everything out and take it pitch-by-pitch,” Shaw said. “Of course you still see and hear everything that’s going on outside, but you’ve just got to focus.”

In the seventh inning the Patriots looked to respond but had their quickest at-bats of the game at that point with three consecutive outs. But they held the Titans in four at-bats in the bottom of the seventh and were headed to extra innings.

Adriana Abrantes started a rally with two outs in the eighth inning with a bunt that crawled down the third base line for a hit. Then Abbie Barron forced an error that put her and Abrantes in scoring position for Ashley Aldama to hit a single that brought them both home.

Up by two going into the bottom of the eighth, Shaw took the mound looking to secure a win and pitched two quick outs, but then the Titans answered with two runs to bring this nail-biter of a game into another inning.

Heritage had another quick at-bat with three outs in a row in the top of the ninth, and Shaw took the mound again, this time with the pressure of giving her team the chance to step up to the plate at least one more time.

“I’m collected in the circle and I think that’s really important,” Shaw said.

She pitched two quick outs again, but Temescal Canyon had three hits to counter that and won on a deep ground ball-single to right field.

Heritage coach Raul Olivas said although it’s heartbreaking to lose such a battle, that’s just how softball works sometimes.

“I think we come out and work hard every day; our game shows it. Part of the sport is you end up on top sometimes and you end up on bottom sometimes,” Olivas said.

A factor in the loss was the Titans’ roaring crowd and their coaches picking up on the Patriots’ signs. Olivas said that was something he was trying to fight, but that it was tough being the visitors.

“You try to keep your girls ‘inside the fences’ and you try to make the adjustment,” said Olivas. “But we let this one slip away.”

Shaw will have another season to play for this team but she and her teammates said goodbye to four seniors at the end of this game.

“I’m so proud of how far those girls have put this program,” said Shaw. “To fight like they did out there—I’m really proud.”

This 2022 season ends with this game but they finish with a 22-5 overall record, doubling their wins from last season.

Annalie Castanon slides home safely with the winning run in the ninth inning for Temescal Canyon. (Photo by Rick Rowell)