ANAHEIM – It was almost impossible to gauge the importance of Friday’s Golden West League game if you caught a glance at Loara’s dugout.
Whether it was Kaitlyn Eveland’s singing between innings or Coach Todd Rolph’s good-natured ribbing of his players, the Saxons appeared to be more relaxed than their counterparts from Segerstrom.
They certainly played like it as well.
Alanna Torres’ three-run home run in the first inning proved to be all the support pitcher Vanessa Ledesma needed as Loara defeated the Jaguars, 4-1, in a league game at Loara.
“They’re just loosey-goosey,” Rolph said of his team’s demeanor. “That’s their style. They’re like that if we’re up or down, so it’s special.”
Loara (11-7, 2-0) put itself in the driver’s seat of the league race with the victory.
Segerstrom (11-6, 1-1) has been atop the league hierarchy the last three seasons, compiling a 27-3 record over that span.
“When you beat one of the best teams in the league like Segerstrom, you’re beating someone who is one of the best team’s in our division,” Rolph explained. “So it’s always sweet.”
The Saxons wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Ledesma and Amanda Limon reached base to start the bottom half of the first inning.
With both runners on base with two outs, Torres came to the plate and blasted a shot off of Alexandra Mendoza to the fence in center field. Jaguars center fielder Julianna Covarrubius attempted to glove the liner, but the ball nicked off her glove and continued to fly over the fence for a three-run homer.
“(Alanna) had the big hit that got us going against Ocean View last week, and she did it again today,” Rolph said. “She’s hitting with runners on and doing her thing.”
Eveland added to Loara’s lead in the second inning when she drilled a solo home run over the center field fence, putting the Saxons up, 4-0.
The four-run lead was plenty for Ledesma. The junior right-hander struck out two batters per inning from the first to the sixth inning, and finished with 12 strikeouts.
“I haven’t seen her like that this year,” Rolph said. “She was focused and real dialed in today.”
Alejandra Morales scored the only run for the Jaguars on an RBI single from Brenda Medina in the fifth inning.
Contact the writer: kconnolly@ocregister.com
