BHS Softball: Aztecs score 7 in 9th to advance
The Barstow High School softball team made good on its second chance in the postseason after a controversial entrance into the second round of the playoffs.
The Aztecs beat Western High School 7-3 in the ninth inning in Anaheim on Tuesday.
Barstow advances to the third round of the CIF-Southern Section Division V playoffs against San Dimas, which beat La Canada 2-1 on Tuesday. The teams will play at 3:15 p.m. on Thursday at Barstow High School.
After going scoreless in regulation, Barstow finally broke the tie in the top of the ninth and held Western in the bottom of the inning.
Barstow had chances in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings but left runners on base.
“Generally we take a little while to get warmed up,” Barstow coach Daron Banks said. “I knew once our bats started rolling we were in good position.”
Freshman pitcher Hannah Ulibarri pitched a complete game for the Aztecs. Taylor Purdy went 3-for-4, Nicole Mathews was 2-for-4 and Eric Carrion and Andrea Kolwyck each went 2-for-5.
Barstow reached the second round after No. 1 seed Calvary Murrieta was force to forfeit their 4-0 win against the Aztecs after violating a batting practice rule before the game.
Although several comments on blogs debated whether Barstow truly deserved to be in the second round and Barstow High School received several calls about the issue, Banks said he never took much notice of it.
“We didn’t even talk about it with the girls,” Banks said. “We just said what we needed to do to get a win. I’m not worried about what those people think. It just feels good to win. I’ve said all along, we have a good team in Barstow.”
Barstow 000 00 007 — 7 13 1
Western 000 000 003 — 3 5 1
Ulibarri and Schreiner; Puailoa, Arias (9) and Moreno. WP — Ulibarri. LP — Puailoa. 2B — Hernandez, Purdy (B), Puailoa.
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