City College softball took down undefeated conference leader Ventura College, 4-3, in a Western State Conference game Thursday, March 20, at Pershing Park.
With two outs in the first inning after a questionable out call on the previous play, Victoria Lucido (No. 5) was knocked in by freshman third baseman Chrystal Vierra (No. 17). Two batters later after a dropped third strike gave Amanda Caras (No. 22) a free bag and runners on the corners, Brianna Portese (No. 7) singled up the middle scoring Vierra and putting City College up two in the first.
Next inning after a sacrifice bunt by freshman Vierra, Caras hit a hard ground ball that was misplayed by Ventura shortstop Ashley Cerda and scored Daniel De Castro (No. 19). Celeste Acosta (No. 1) knocked in Caras with a single, extending the lead to four.
In the top of the fourth inning with runners on second and third and no outs, freshmen Taylor Stanek and Vierra helped out their squad with two great defensive plays on consecutive plays. Almost out of the jam, Acosta gave up a single up the middle, scoring two runs and putting Ventura back in the ball game.
An inning later with a runner at second, Ventura kept hitting the ball hard and an RBI double off the wall by Ventura’s Julia Garcia pulled the Pirates within one. But City College would escape without further damage up one going into the bottom of the fifth.
The last inning was a test for City College, but Acosta kept her cool against her last three batters retiring them in order and securing the win for the Vaqueros.
The player of the game was undoubtedly leadoff hitter and right fielder Victoria Lucido who went a perfect 4-4 with a triple at the plate and recorded the final out of the contest, tracking down a hard hit ball in the right field corner.
“Lately I’ve been hitting the ball pretty hard, I’ve just been hitting it at people,” Lucido said. “Today I finally found some gaps.”
Lucido knew how big of a matchup her and her team were up against. City College has beaten the number one team in the Western State Conference North twice now in three games after a win against eighth ranked Hancock College last week and a great win this afternoon.
“We knew Ventura was in first,” Lucido said. “We knew we had to get our name back on the map.”
Now City College (4-2) is in a battle with Hancock (5-1) and Ventura (4-1). Coach Congleton is aware of the urgency her team now has to win.
“We need to try to stay steady,” Congleton said. “That’s been our biggest problem, just inconsistency.”
City College looks to take this game and carry the momentum into the Bakersfield Tournament over the weekend matching up against great competition in Cerritos, Riverside, Bakersfield and Saddleback.
