Giants' softball sweep Merced, get swept by Fresno City
By Nick Giannandrea
COS ATHLETICS
It was a feast or famine week for College of the Sequoias' softball team.
The Giants had a combined 30 hits while cruising to a pair of mercy-rule wins at Merced on April 20, then were stymied by Fresno City's Jazmine Castaneda while getting swept in a home doubleheader April 22.
Sequoias (3-3 overall, 2-2 Central Valley Conference) opened its week with a 14-3 win in five innings against Merced (0-2, 0-2) that featured three-hit performances from Emily Juarez (Hanford High) and Maddison Servadio (Mission Oak).
Emily Ibarra (Redwood) got the Giants rolling in a six-run first inning with a two-run triple. Olivia Aguigam (El Diamante) had a two-run single and Audra Pratt (Golden West) added an RBI groundout in the first for the Giants.
Sequoias made it 9-0 in the second when Servadio, who tripled, and Alyssa Grijalva (Selma), who walked, both scored ahead of Mariah Guerrero (Redwood) when Guerrero's grounder was played for two errors.
Grijalva's three-run double highlighted a five-run Giants' third inning that also featured an RBI single by Servadio and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Pratt.
That would be more than enough support for Aguigan, who earned the win after allowing two earned runs over four innings. She struck out five.
In the second game against Merced, Ibarra had a run-scoring double in the top of the first to get the Giants' rolling en route to a 16-1 win in six innings.
Ibarra finished with four of Sequoias' 18 hits.
Grijalva added a run-scoring single in the first as the Giants went up 2-0.
The Giants made it 7-1 with a five-run third inning that included RBI singles by Servadio, Grijalva and Yennifer Gaitan (Mission Oak).
Sequoias extended its lead to 14-1 in the fourth as Pratt, Servadio, Grijalva, Guerrero and Ibarra all collected run-scoring hits, while Pratt also drew a bases-loaded walk and Servadio knock in a second run when her grounder was played for an error.
Aguigam had an RBI single and Juarez drove in a run on a fielder's choice as the Giants capped the scoring in the fifth inning.
Aguigam was credited with the win after allowing an earned run on four hits over five innings. She struck out four.
Two days later, however, the Giants' bats went cold against Fresno City and Castaneda.
The Rams (4-4, 4-0) won the opener 3-0 as Castaneda fired a five-hitter while striking out 13.
The Giants put runners in scoring position with two outs three times -- following singles by Servadio and Guerrero in the third, a Pratt single and Servadio sacrifice in the fourth, and singles by Ibarra and Pratt in the sixth -- but were unable to push a run across.
Aguigam allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks for Sequoias.
Castaneda opened the second game with three scoreless innings during Fresno City's 5-3 win.
After Castaneda was removed with a 5-0 lead, the Giants began to rally against reliever Alayna Munoz.
Pratt tripled and scored on Servadio's groundout in the fourth to make it 5-1.
Sequoias closed to 5-3 in the fifth as Guerrero singled, stole second and scored when a shot to the outfield by Juarez was played for an error. Juarez would score on Aguigam's single.
Munoz sat the Giants down in order in the sixth and seven to close it out.
Sequoias will play two doubleheaders again next week: May 4 at Taft and May 6 at home against Reedley. Both doubleheaders are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
Only up to three family members of Giants' players are permitted at Sequoias' home games, with masks and social distancing required.
