Barstow softball falls to hard hitting Huskies

BARSTOW • The South Hills softball team did what they are known for on Tuesday — hit the ball.

The Huskies racked up 23 hits on their way to an 18-0 victory against Barstow. South Hills is now on a six-game win streak during which they have outscored their opponents 81-10 including a 41-1 stretch in the first two rounds of the CIF-Southern Section playoffs. However, the Huskies have been hitting the ball well all season. They hit .364 as a team and averaged eight hits a game going into the match up with Barstow.

South Hills coach Scott Fisch said his team has excelled at the plate this season.

“We just hit the ball today,” Fisch said. “They had some good pitching, but we are just strong throughout our line up. It’s something that we can rely on.”

Barstow coach Richard Johannsen said he was aware of the Huskies offensive prowess going into the game.
“We knew they hit well, but we figured we could slow them down and get some hits of our own,” Johannsen said. “They had some tough defense. We got contact, but they just made plays on everything.”

Barstow ended the game with only four hits despite the players ability to put the bat on the ball. The Huskies were able to stay in position and make defensive plays to help their pitcher, Sydney La Follette, throughout the game. Barstow’s Taylor Purdy hit a deep shot to center field in the third inning, but the ball was caught and Alysse Royce was caught for not tagging up. South Hills caught the Aztecs not getting back to the base on another pop fly in the sixth inning as well.

La Follette had a 1.58 ERA entering the game and held Barstow scoreless, but the shutout can be credited more to the Huskies defense. She ended the game with only two strikeouts and also allowed two bases on a walk and a hit batter.

Barstow’s Kiana Duran said the Aztecs were able to hit La Follette.

“Their defense was pretty good,” Duran said. “There’s no doubt about that. We can hit her, but we either hit to people or they made plays.”

Barstow’s starting pitcher Hannah Ulibarri threw the first six innings of the game. She finished the day with four strikeouts, one walk and one hit batter. Johannsen brought Miranda Peralta in to relieve Ulibarri in the final inning of the game.

The loss ends the Aztecs run into the CIF-SS playoffs and their season. They finished in first place in the Desert Sky League in the regular season and advanced to the second round of the playoffs this season despite only having a single senior, Serena Winston, on the team.

Duran said the loss was disappointing.

“It’s a little depressing,” Duran said. “It’s our senior’s last game. We had a good season. We were rebuilding and we took DSL, but it’s still sad.”

Johannsen said the team’s success gives the Aztecs a lot to build on for next season.

“We’re so young,” Johannsen said. “We’ve still got a long way we can go with these girls.”

S. Hills        130 231 8    —    18 23 2
Barstow        000 000 0    —    0 4 4

Ulibarri, Peralta (7) and Saenz; La Follette and Rodriguez. WP — La Follette. LP — Ulibarri. 2B — Robles, Rivas, Rodriguez 2,  (S). HR — Rivas (S).