Barstow Softball: Aztecs roughed up in seventh

BARSTOW — Nothing like waiting until the last inning of the season finale to clinch the Desert Sky League Championship.

That's what the Victor Valley softball team did in its 9-4 victory with a five-run seventh inning in Wednesday's victory against Barstow High School.

Tears of joy flowed down first-year Victor Valley coach Joe Campbell's face as he talked about taking the DSL title.

“I can't even describe how I feel very well,” Campbell said. “I honestly can't believe I was able to accomplish this in my first year. This really establishes my coaching career, and establishes that Victor Valley softball isn't a team to be messed with.”

Victor Valley rose to the occasion in a game with high stakes. A loss would have created a three-way tie for third place with Burroughs and Silverado.

“I just kept the faith that my defense was going to make the plays to keep us in the game,” Victor Vallley pitcher Leeann Eide said. “Then, our offense would eventually get going.”

B.B. Bates began the Jackrabbits surge in the seventh with a double that was followed by Laura Lopez's RBI double to make the game 5-4. After Alex Tia singled, Jessica Bright knocked in Laura Lopez to make the game 6-4. The floodgates opened when another runner scored on a wild pitch to make the game 7-4, and Eide's 2 RBI basehit capped the scoring 9-4, to close out the league championship.

“We really struggled in the first part of the season,” Bates said. “No one believed that we were able to do it. We were able to prove all of the doubters wrong, and that we were a contender.”

Barstow coach Dan Smith attributed the seventh inning collapse to just plain bad luck.

“The kids played their hearts out,” Smith said. “Mistakes just jumped up and bit us like a snake again. The kids worked extremely hard, it’s just one of those seasons.”

After a 1-1 tie at the conclusion of the first inning, the Jackrabbits looked to pull away from Barstow in the third. Brynna Laidler walked and a base hit by Eide, the score was 2-1. Then, a fielding error made the score 3-1 in the fourth.

The Aztecs battled back in the fourth with a sacrafice fly to make the score 3-2. Victor Valley catcher Jessica Bright widened the gap with an inside-the-park homerun in the fourth, giving the Jack Rabbits a 4-2 lead. Barstow answered when they turned a routine fly ball into an RBI, driving in Cayla Schreiner to make the score 4-3. After another RBI in the sixth inning evened the score at 4-4, it set up the hitting barrage in the seventh inning.

Victor Valley 011 110 5 — 9 12

Barstow 100 120 0 — 4 4

Idie and Bright (V); Zamora and Schreiner (B). WP — Idie(V); LP — Zamora (B); HR — Bright(V); 2B — Sanchez (V).

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(760) 256-4122 or jason_blasco@link.freedom.com