It might be a new season, but coach Tayler Walker and the Foothill softball team have the same goal: win the title.
The Cougars (8-7), the defending Northern Section Division II champions, took one small step closer to that goal on Thursday, April 16, after a dominant 19-4 win over Shasta.
Foothill came out ready to hit. The Cougars knocked in three runs on two hits in the top of the first inning and sophomore pitcher Sofia Nichols stranded three base runners in the bottom. The Cougars added four more in the second on a single swing.
With two outs, bases loaded and 1-1 count in the second inning, junior Taylor Bates sent a ball flying over the left field wall for her first homer of the season and third grand slam of her career.
“We’ve been waiting for a home run out of her, so (I’m) very, very proud of her,” Walker said. “She stayed consistent, stayed level-headed all year, and she’s just a great teammate.”
Bates has only been building on a strong sophomore season in which she earned All-Northern Section second-team honors. So far through 15 games this season, Bates is slashing .452/.521/.667 and she leads the team in hits (19) and RBIs (11).
Bates finished the day going 2-for-2 at the plate with five RBIs, three runs, a double, a walk, a hit by pitch, and of course, a grand slam.
“It felt amazing,” Bates said of her second-inning bomb. “I didn’t realize I hit a grand slam until I started (running) and I was like ‘Oh wait, I just hit a grand slam.’ It felt really good.”
The Cougars have now won each of their first three games against league opponents, and they’ve scored double-digit runs in each win.
“We’re a really hard-working team,” Bates said. “We put in so much effort just to get up in the first inning and get the win.”
It was Bates’ sixth multi-hit game of the season, but she wasn’t the only one swinging a hot bat on Thursday. Five different Cougars recorded two or more hits, including senior Malia Webb and sophomore Makayla Berens, who both drove in three runs.
“We did a really good job of preparing ourselves in the preseason. We had some tough games and played some tough teams,” Walker said. “It’s just really helped prepare us for league and just coming out hot and staying hot; they have a great mindset right now.”
Since the season began, Walker has noticed her team rally behind one another. Whether it was their T-Pose chant after a double or even cheering for a batter taking a pitch at the plate, this Foothill softball team stays loud and plays together.
Bates, a catcher, said that her teammates will even help her out with her gear between innings to help alleviate some of the stress that comes with the catcher position.
“We all lift each other up when we’re down, and we just cheer each other on,” Bates said. “It definitely helps.”
A year ago, Foothill had one of the most dominant pitchers the Northern Section has seen in Elisea Weigand. As a senior last season, Weigand recorded a 1.29 ERA with 320 strikeouts through 162.1 innings pitched and earned NSCIF MVP honors.
Weigand helped lead that team to a section championship before heading to the University of Maryland for college ball.
“It’s always hard losing a super dominant pitcher, but our pitchers have really stepped up this year,” Walker said. “They’ve really shown how hard they can work and how well they can play with each other; we run deep when it comes to pitching.”
The Cougars know what it takes to win a title. Many players on this roster experienced it last year, and they’re already showing both the talent and the team chemistry required to be successful down the stretch.
“They have grit, they have a drive and they love each other,” Walker said. “That’s our biggest goal, is to just make sure they’re having fun out there.”
Foothill earned a big win against Shasta, but they have a gauntlet of opponents next week. The Cougars will start things off by hosting Pleasant Valley at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, before closing out the week with games against Chico, Lassen and Las Plumas. Each of those four teams is ranked in the top 10 in the section.
“I feel like we’ve really hit it hard in the preseason to prepare us for league,” Walker said. “We’ve got a hard week next week, but we’ll be ready for it. They got a lot of confidence after this week, so we’re excited to go next week.”
Brett Abrams is a sports reporter for the Record Searchlight/USA Today Network. He covers high school and local sports in the Redding area. Reach out to Brett with any sports tips or news on X (formerly Twitter) @brabrams_ or by email at Brett.Abrams@Redding.com. To support and sustain this work, please subscribe today. Thank you.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Foothill softball’s Taylor Bates hits grand slam in win over Shasta
Reporting by Brett Abrams, Redding Record Searchlight / Redding Record Searchlight
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