Down By Four Runs, The Warriors Rally to Take the Lead in Fifth Inning and Beat the Ventura Pirates in Home Opener, 5-4

TORRANCE, Calif. - The Warriors hosted the Ventura College Pirates (2-1) in their home opener on Tuesday afternoon. Despite being down by four, the Warriors struck four runs in the fifth inning to take their second win of the season. Kamryn Fisher, Haley Reed, and Ashley Machado all earned RBI's for the Warriors.

El Camino and Ventura both went 1-1 after the first inning with Pirate Julianne Abeloe scoring a run after Celeste Ekman was caught stealing at second base. Raelani Camez scored first for the Warriors when she hit a triple and an error by the Pirate center fielder allowed her to make it home.

Ventura gained the lead at the top of the third inning with three runs to put the game at 4-1. Breana Betancourt scored first in the inning and Christina Hart hit a single that gave two runners on base the opportunity to make it home.

The Warriors got their groove back at the bottom of the fifth inning, scoring four more runs. Fisher hit a single to right field that put her on second due to an error by right field and earned an RBI when Karla Calderon made it home. Ronni Silas and Brigid Antonelli both scored after a hit by Reed, who advanced to second. Machado's hit put her on second after an error by right field that also gave way to Reed's run. Alyssa Wing was grounded out by the Pirate shortstop to end the inning.

"I felt that the game today was so good for us. Ventura is a good team and put pressure on us every inning. I loved the fact that we had to come back after being behind and take the lead late in the game," commented Coach Jessica Rapoza. She continued, "It builds confidence to know we can have a late inning rally. I think the rally started when we started a little earlier in our swing because most of the day our barrels were late to contact."

"Jazmyn Sancen did a great job coming through in the clutch with a lead off double which sparked our rally, Bri Devellano had a stellar game behind the dish and Brooke Sarro did an excellent job coming in as the closer."

Pitcher Brooke Sarro stands 2.2 IP with only one hit, no runs, and two strikeouts. Machado was 2-2 at the plate while Raelani Camez went 2-3.

The Warriors (2-0) are back at home on Wednesday to take on Los Angeles Valley at 2:30 pm.

"I think as far as improvements go, we can clean up some unnecessary free passes defensively and make bigger adjustments earlier in the game offensively in the future. I am looking forward to seeing us compete tomorrow and hopefully we will pick up where we left off today and continue to improve."