After allowing a pair of runs in the first inning, Foothill pitcher Anissa Amarillas found her groove and held Villa Park to just three hits in the final six frames, and the Knights capitalized on a few Spartans miscues to seal a 3-2 come-from-behind win in a North Hills League game Tuesday afternoon at Foothill High.
Amarillas scattered five hits in total and worked her way out of bases loaded jams in the third and fourth innings to keep Foothill (12-8, 2-1) within striking distance of their league rivals.
“Some of our kids were nervous because we started a couple freshmen today,” Knights coach Joe Barragan said. “It’s the first taste of a real league battle. We just had to break the ice. Once we broke the ice, we were good.”
Villa Park (13-9, 2-1) raced out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on a two-run single from freshman right fielder Mackenzie Boglin.
Knights senior shortstop Taryn Atlee cut the deficit in half with a leadoff triple in the bottom half of the inning, scoring moments later on Janea Brannen’s grounder to second base.
Still trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Foothill right fielder Broke Cantillo was hit by a pitch to reach base. When Villa Park pitcher Krista Dalgarn fired a sacrifice bunt down the first base line, Cantillo reached third and later scored on Zela Chahbazian’s grounder to short.
Justine Boyle drove in the go-ahead run later in the inning, doubling to the right-center field gap to score Chahbazian from first.
“They capitalized off our error,” Spartans coach Terry Williams said. “They capitalized off that throwing error, got that unearned run, and that was it. We didn’t capitalize on theirs. We left a lot of runners on base.”
Villa Park stranded eight runners on base in total, six in scoring position, including the game-tying run on third in the seventh inning.
Also in the North Hills League:
El Dorado 5, Brea Olinda 3: The Golden Hawks scored four runs in the second inning and junior pitcher Emily Klee limited the Wildcats to two earned runs on seven hits.
In the Crestview League:
El Modena 4, Yorba Linda 0: McKenna Walton tossed a three-hit shutout, giving the Vanguards their first league win. The Mustangs entered the day alone atop the standings.
In the Empire League:
Cypress 1, Kennedy 0: Senior Maddy Byrd tossed her second no-hitter of the season, but needed Marissa Wightman’s seventh-inning home run to help push the Centurions past the Fighting Irish. Wightman and Caitlyn Koenig each finished with a pair of base hits.
No. 7 Pacifica 8, Tustin 0: Hannah Boos pitched a two-hit shutout, while Dejah Mulipola, Irieanna Naea and Alison Seng went a combined 7-for-9 at the plate and drove in five runs.
In the Sunset League:
No. 3 Los Alamitos 9, Marina 3: Mary Iakopo and Caitlin Ladd each had multiple base hits, and sophomore pitcher Brianna Jewett scattered three hits and one run over six innings for the host Griffins. Ladd and fellow junior Cami Sellers each finished with a pair of RBI.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
