By Ed Piper
Sophomore Nat Alvarez hit a grand slam in the third inning, her ninth home run of the season, and pitched La Jolla to a 15-10 win over visiting Crawford Tues., May 27, to reach the CIF Division 5 championship game.
Overwhelming the Colts in bottom of the first, the Vikings--surprise second-place finishers in the Central League this season--piled up eight runs, the big blow a booming double by Jacey Taylor to right-centerfield, driving in two runs. The deluge overcame a somewhat shaky start in which Crawford initially scored a run off Alvarez in the opening half-inning.
Natalie's power shot built the hosts' lead from 9-4 to 13-4 in one swing.
But the Colts didn't lie down and die. In the fifth and sixth, Coach John Martinez's scrappy bunch rallied for four runs, trailing now 15-8, setting up a tension-packed final inning for the Vikes to try to nail down the win.
With one out in the top of the seventh, and Crawford having plated one run on a hit-by-pitch of Melissa Pineda--the starting catcher who had to fill in as pitcher after a season-ending injury--and threatening for more, veteran La Jolla coach Anthony Sarain made a big gamble by ordering an intentional walk of Colt power-hitter Katerin Ponce.
The walk drove in a run, with the bases loaded against Alvarez, the score now 15-10. Nat struck out the next batter, and induced a groundout to second baseman Imelda Lopez for the final out, and the Vikings rushed to the home sideline to celebrate.
They will play Lincoln Thursday evening, May 29, at 7 p.m. at UCSD for the Division 5 title. The game will be played on the Triton Softball Field on campus.
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