Bats heat up as Vintage beats Berkeley to pick up first win of season
By Kyle Foster
Twitter: @NapaKyle @NapaSportsNews
It’s always nice to pick up your first win of the season.
It’s also easier to win when the offense finally gets it going.
That’s what the Vintage softball team did on Saturday morning when they beat Berkeley 7-1.
The Crushers (1-1-1) put the game away in the bottom of the fifth when they scored three times. After walking, Shelby Morse came home on a bases-loaded walk by Briana Perez. Then, Camila Barboza’s two-RBI double brought in Bianca Avalos and Raimy Gamsby who both reached on back-to-back bases-loaded fielder’s choices.
Vintage also scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. Morse and Gamsby both singled to set up the rally. A Barboza groundball to second that was botched brought in Morse and Gamsby’s courtesy runner Xitali Mora.
“Our last two games ended with bases loaded, two outs in the seventh and we could not push runners across,” Vintage coach Robert Poppe said. “So, that’s what we’ve been working on. Just making contact, making the defense get the outs, and today everybody went up there with a confident swing.”
Finally, the bottom of the sixth saw the Crushers also pushed across a pair of runs. After reaching on a fielder’s choice, Mora later came home on a Jordan Allen double. After that, Allen scored on an error on a back-pick to third base that went into left field.
“Jordan’s a great kid. I’m loving having her on the field,” Poppe added. “She brings tremendous energy and causes a lot of problems for opposing defenses.”
Leading Vintage at the plate was Allen (2-for-4, double, singled, RBI, run), Grace Shelfo (1-for-2, double), on her 16th birthday Morse went 1-for-3 with a single and two runs, Gamsby (1-for-3, single, run), Barboza (1-for-3, double, two RBIs).
Getting the win in the circle was Gamsby. She pitched a complete-game and allowed only one run in the fourth when Berkeley’s Abigail Kaneko hit a solo homer to left-center. However, Gamsby struck out 13 and walked only one in 99 pitches.
“She knows she’s a great pitcher,” Poppe explained. “If you’ve been looking at her stats, she’s actually been hitting really well. So, I think that’s just taking her to another level. She comes to the games not only dominating on the mound, now she’s living high on her bat and I just think it carries over for a complete game with that kid.”
Vintage will be back in action next Tuesday at 4 p.m. when they head to San Ramon to face California.
