Warriors Capitalize on Ventura Miscues to Take Game One

VENTURA, Calif. --- No. 11 El Camino College defeated No. 6 Ventura 3-1 in game one of the California Community College Athletics Association Softball Southern California Regionals on Friday afternoon at the Ventura Softball Complex in Ventura, Calif.

The Warriors got an outstanding performance in the circle from Skylar Sanchez and took advantage of some defensive miscues from the Pirates to take game one and a 1-0 lead in the series.

Sanchez pitched a complete-game and allowed just one run on eight hits. She walked one and struck out two.

On offense, the Warriors only had four hits but got the big one when it counted as Ashley Salas belted a two-run triple with two on and one out in the fourth inning to open the scoring and give ECC a 2-0 lead. Alyssa Lujan reached on an error with one out and Sanchez was hit by a pitch before Salas brought them both home with her triple.

Madilyn Radeke followed with a walk to put runners at the corners with one out and then Radeke stole second base. A throwing error by the catcher then allowed Salas to score with the third run of the game and give ECC a 3-0 lead.

Sanchez did the rest as she held the Pirates to one run in the sixth inning.

The teams will return to action on Saturday at noon for game two. The Warriors can advance to the 3C2A Super Regionals with a win. A Pirates win would force a winner-take-all game three 30 minutes after the conclusion of game two.