Vaqueras split doubleheader against Howard

SIGNAL PEAK — The Central Arizona College softball team needed every one of its 18 hits to squeak past Howard, Texas, 13-12 in the opener of Friday's nonconference doubleheader at CAC Field.

The effort seemed to take a toll on the Vaqueras, who were limited to three hits in Game 2. The Hawks salvaged a split by rolling to an 11-2 run-rule victory.

Central's final hit of the opener was a walk-off RBI single by Brittany Holland with two outs in the seventh inning. It capped a 5-for-5 performance by the freshman third baseman, who had five RBIs.

The Vaqueras (19-6) overcame deficits of 8-6 and 11-9 after going up 5-0 in the first inning. The score was tied 12-12 going into the bottom of the seventh.

Former Vista Grande High School standout Danielle Wheeler, who went 3 for 4, led off with a single. Central loaded the bases on a one-out infield single by former Vista Grande standout Annalisa Cordova and a two-out walk to Brianna Moeller before Holland drilled the first pitch from Kylie Shay into the right-center gap.

Holland also had a two-run single in the first, an RBI single in the second and an RBI double in the fourth.

"She tore it up," CAC coach Shelby Davis said. "She's been kind of hot and cold, but this was a good confidence booster for her to show she should be our No. 4 hitter."

Holland wasn't exactly struggling, entering the game with a .432 average and 30 RBIs.

Lindsey Smith's three-run homer with one out in the sixth gave Central a 12-11 lead. Howard (17-10) tied it in the seventh with an unearned run as the Vaqueras made two of their four errors in the inning.

The Hawks, who have fallen out of the NJCAA Division I rankings after being No. 17 in the preseason Top 20, scored four in the second and four in the fourth to take an 8-6 lead. The fourth-inning runs were unearned — all scored after a two-out error.

Central regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Moeller and Holland, Samantha Soto's sacrifice fly and a two-out RBI single by Felicia Medina.

"We showed that we have the ability to get a win even if we're down," Davis said. "We were patient and got runners on and were able to drive them in. We kept making adjustments, which is something we didn't do in the second game."

The Vaqueras had six hits in the first inning, including a two-run single by Soto that knocked Howard starter Celeste Villagrana out of the game, and Wheeler's RBI single. They sent nine batters to the plate.

Howard got four back in the second off Kyrstan Garcia, who went the distance. Among the Hawks' four hits in the inning were a leadoff homer by Mariah Young, Jackie Mercado's RBI single and a two-run triple by Mackenzie Mitchiner.

The Hawks tied it 6-6 in the fourth on a two-run single by Kaylynn Lopez and went ahead 8-6 later in the inning on Evelyn Loyola's two-run double. Mitchiner, who went 3 for 5, had an RBI double in the fifth to make it 9-9. Young's RBI double and a sacrifice fly by Tiare Lee in the sixth put Howard up 11-9.

Moeller went 3 for 3. Cordova, Smith and Medina each had two hits for the Vaqueras.

Megan Darling, Lopez, Young, Loyola and Mercado each had two of the Hawks' 16 hits.

Holland's RBI double was the second of three hits for CAC in Game 2. It drove in Ashleigh Withers, who led off the fourth with a walk. Moeller singled in the fourth and scored on Smith's fielder's choice grounder.

The final hit for the Vaqueras was a leadoff infield single by former Casa Grande Union High School standout Hannah Norris leading off the fifth.

Howard pitcher Mickaela Brown struck out two and walked two.

The Hawks did all of their scoring off Lauren Shirley, who allowed 10 hits, walked five and hit three.

Howard scored three runs in the first inning, one in the second and seven in the fifth.

The key hits for the Hawks were Lee's three-run homer in the fifth and two-run doubles by Young in the first and Mitchiner in the fifth. Lee also had an RBI single in the second. Mitchiner and Lee both had two hits.

The Vaqueras defeated Pima 7-5 on Thursday in a makeup game in Tucson and are 15-3 in the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference, second among the ACCAC's five D-I teams behind No. 7 Yavapai (19-1). The top four advance to the Region 1 tournament.

CAC hosts a doubleheader against D-II South Mountain (8-16, 4-16 ACCAC) on Saturday. Game 1 starts at noon.