The line drive off the bat of Shadow Hills hitter Alexa Lua looked destined for centerfield and a game-tying hit in the bottom of the seventh inning of the Knights CIF-SS playoff game Wednesday.
Instead, Grace High School pitcher Rosy Salazar speared the ball in the webbing of her glove. The power of the line drive turned Salazar toward second base and set up an easy throw to complete a stunning double play. The play was a frustrating end to the game and the season for Shadow Hills, which fell 6-5 to Grace of Simi Valley in the quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 5 playoffs.
“It’s a base hit nine out of 10 times,” Shadow Hills head coach Sergio Maduena said as he prepared to rake the field at Shadow Hills High School for the last time this season.
Shadow Hills, the No. 2 team out of the Desert Empire League, finished the season with a 16-6 record, but also knowing the team had a good chance to advance to the semifinals with a win Wednesday against Grace (16-10).
“We definitely had our opportunities,” Maduena said. “We stayed in there, even though we didn’t maximize every single opportunity we had in the game, We stayed in. We knew it was going to be a battle from start to finish. It just didn’t fall our way this time.”
The game started as if the Knights would maximize their chances. Shadow Hills scored three times in the bottom of the first inning on four hits, including a run-scoring double by Jiselle Morales and a two-run double by Annabelle Alvarez.
Grace, which came into the game averaging just a shade under eight runs a game, slowly chipped away at the Shadow Hills lead with single runs in the second and third inning. In the top of the fourth, Grace scored three runs, two on a double by Grace Maguire, then Maguire scored on a double by Brooke Burns.
That gave Grace a 5-3 lead, but the Knights rallied with single runs in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Hope Esquivez, and another run in the fifth on a infield single by Lua that scored Gianna Hernandez.
Maguire struck for her third hit the game in the sixth for Grace, then stole a base and came around to score on a single up the middle for a 6-5 Grace lead. It was Maguire’s third run scored in the game.
Then came the seventh, with a one-out walk to Hernandez and a single by Morales, setting up the frustrating double play that ended the season for Shadow Hills.
Maduena was left with mixed emotions after the game but said he was pleased with his team.
“It’s hard right now to kind of say in the moment. We always want to strive to do something better,” he said. “We had opportunities in multiple games. we capitalized on some, didn’t on others. I’m just proud of the girls.
“The season is the season and you are going to have different seasons in different years,” he added. “I’m proud of the girls, proud of the way they played and the way they finished. They didn’t lay down, they didn’t quit, they didn’t fold. That’s what’s important for us.”
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Shadow Hills sees softball season end on tough-luck double play
Reporting by Larry Bohannan, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
