ELK GROVE, Calif. – Right fielder Jazzy Basquez, third baseman Alex Garcia and first baseman Isabelle Vela each rapped RBI singles to lift St. Francis to a 4-2 win over Elk Grove in the varsity end of a Delta League doubleheader at Elk Grove Friday afternoon.
The victory snaps a six-game winless stretch for the Troubadours, who improve to 1-6 overall and even their league mark to 1-1. The Thundering Herd, a day removed from pounding Cosumnes Oaks by a 19-1 final, slips to 5-6 for the season.
Freshman pitcher Reese Lewis scattered six hits and walked just two en route to her first prep win. She allowed just one earned run in the complete game, while St. Francis piled up three of its four runs in the third. Lewis actually started the rally by leading off with a hit by pitch on the second offering from Herd pitcher Madison Carda. Two batters later, Francesca Guerra was also plunked, again on a 1-0 pitch. Claire Krotine, Lewis' courtesy runner, then scored when Basquez reached on an infield error.
Garcia followed with a line drive over the head of EG senior third baseman Adriana Delaney, plating Guerrera to double the Troubie lead to 2-0. Vela then added another run with her chopper to the hole, bringing in Basquez.
Elk Grove got a run back in the fifth when Addison Buckley led off with a single to left, moved to third on an error, then scored on a fielder's choice. Lewis escaped the inning with the lone unearned run, then got some extra run support in the sixth. Kylee Garrett came in as a pinch hitter with one out and drew yet another HBP. She advanced 60 feet on a ground out, then scored from second on Basquez' hit to left.
The Herd rallied for one more run in the seventh, but freshman second baseman Isabelle Barge ran down a foul pop-up against Delaney, closing out the game.
The SF-EG junior varsity game was canceled due to the ongoing lack of umpires, but the two teams played an exhibition. The younger Troubies gave up four runs in the bottom of the seventh to suffer a 12-11 walk-off loss.
Taylor Lewis hit 3-for-5, Layla Werner finished 2-for-4 at the plate, and Deanna Richardson and Emma Fox each drilled doubles in the contest. St. Francis piled up six runs in the third to take an early 6-2 lead, but later fell behind by an 8-7 deficit through five frames. Werner's second hit helped SF equalize at 8-8 in the sixth, then Lewis and recent addition Lilian Desmond had hits in a three-run seventh.
Unfortunately for the Troubies, Elk Grove pushed across four runs in the bottom half of the finale. Annabel Focht walked in the winning run with two outs.
St. Francis takes a brief pause from league play with a 4:15 p.m. visit to Inderkum on Tuesday, then returns home a day later for a Delta League tilt with Davis.
