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SOFTBALL: Soquel Pulls Even in SCCAL Race

Knights defeat Scotts Valley to tie things up with Aptos in league standings.

The Score: Soquel 4, Scotts Valley 1

The Star: The day belonged to Soquel’s Faith Apolskis. Backed by three hits by the star, including a deep homer to left, Apolskis and the Soquel High softball team defeated Scotts Valley 4-1 on Thursday afternoon to keep charging forwards towards a possible Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League crown.

Apolskis started things off with the first RBI hit of the game. Then in the third inning, she unloaded a majestic home run over the left field fence that cleared the bushes on the other side. Only a triple away from hitting for the cycle, Apolskis finished with a single, double and a home run during the key Knights home triumph.

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Another Knights offensive star was junior center fielder Anna Bryant.   Bryant also had a hit every time she went up to the plate and chipped in a stolen base for good measure. The smooth center fielder also made a great catch in the field that would have made Willie Mays proud later on in the SCCAL contest.

Soquel starting pitcher Anna Gurr held Scotts Valley scoreless for five innings. Gurr struck out four in 5.2 innings of work.

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Scotts Valley sophomore shortstop Nicole Whitney came through with a timely hit in the top of the fifth inning and junior center fielder Haley Robinson knocked in the lone RBI for Scotts Valley on the day.

The Turning Point: Soquel High took control of this game right from the start. After allowing Scotts Valley to load the bases, Soquel’s starting pitcher Gurr found her grove and pitched herself out of the early jam. Once the pitching settled down, the Knights bats went to work.

Soquel’s junior centerfielder Anna Bryant stood on second base as Apolskis hit a hot shot double to score the opening tally. The Knights took the lead in the first inning and never looked back.

The Quotes: “We played awesome. Although we didn't have the same energy that we usually do, but we did well anyways. Everyone did their jobs,” Soquel’s sophomore third baseman Faith Apolskis said.  “It was the farthest I ever hit the ball. I was just trying to hit the ball and a made solid contact and it went over the fence.”

Anna Bryant, who went 3-for-3 in the game, was one of the key cogs in the Knights victory.

“I was working with my coach Glen, our hitting coach. I had a rough start, it was not what I wanted, but today I was focused on what I was doing up there at the plate.” Soquel’s junior centerfielder Anna Bryant said about her approach.

Gurr, only a freshman, earned the win in the circle for Soquel.

“I just needed to stay focused on every batter because we needed this win to stay in second place,” Soquel’s freshman pitcher Anna Gurr said. “My defense behind me was awesome. When they did get hits off me, the defense was able to keep them in front and knock them down.”

Scotts Valley didn’t get the win, but the second meeting between the league foes was a much closer affair.

“When Nicole stole second, I knew I had it get a hit because we just had to score at least one run,” Scotts Valley junior center fielder Haley Robinson said.  “At least we did better then last time we played them.”

The Scotts Valley head coach saw flashes of production for her team, but would like to see the results come sooner in the game.

“We were hitting the ball, but we needed to work on hitting the ball when we have runners in scoring position,” Scotts Valley head coach Kaila Walters said. “We need to score every inning and not wait for the fifth, sixth or seventh innings.”

What's Next? Soquel High (18-4, 7-2 Santa Cruz Coast) will travel to Watsonville to play Saint Francis High on Saturday.  Game time is 1 p.m.

Scotts Valley (14-9; 6-3 Santa Cruz Coast) will also be traveling to Watsonville to play Saint Francis High today.  Game time is at 4 p.m.

Bottom Line: Soquel is now tied with Aptos atop the SCCAL standings thanks to an Aptos loss to San Lorenzo Valley High in eight innings on Wednesday. The Soquel Knights are entering the most exciting part of the season where every game counts.

Scotts Valley needs to be more productive at the plate with a only a few more games to go in the 2011 regular season.

Aptos will play a crucial double header with Harbor High today. The first scheduled meeting between Aptos and Harbor was rained out.

 —————————

Scotts Valley             0          0          0          0          1          0          0          -   1

Soquel                       1          1          1          1          0          0          -           -  4

Winning pitcher: Anna Gurr

Losing pitcher: Serna Tapuloa

 

 

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