Tracy Press

 
Late rally wasn't enough to save West's girls softball team at playoffs.

West senior Arianna Welch connects in the sixth inning for a home run against Elk Grove High at the Sac-Joaquin Section playoffs Saturday at the Sacramento Softball Complex. Bob Brownne/Tracy Press

By the time the West girls settled into their fielding and batting in the second half of the game, they were looking at a 6-0 deficit, and while a couple big hits from senior Arianna Welch started to bridge the gap, the Pack ended the top of the seventh one run short.

Welch came through first with a solo home run over the center field fence to lead off the sixth, and again in the seventh with a shot up the middle to drive in three runs after Ashley Cox, Bryanna Enterline and Elida Rubio all singled to load the bases.

“It felt good to get a rally started,” she said. On the home run she just took a hard swing at an outside fastball and got the result she expected. For her seventh inning double she came up knowing that the team just needed a base hit. She hit one up the middle, advanced to third on an infield error and came home on Brie Cardoza’s sacrifice fly.

“It was a little high and I should have let it go, but I hit it and we got a little bit of a comeback,” Welch said. “We came back and fought our hardest.”

West coach Steve Anastasio said his batters just needed a bit more patience at the plate. The rally at the end showed that they could score against Elk Grove pitcher Allie Crump, who held West to three hits in the first five innings.

He added that the team brought up some of the sophomore players that will join the varsity next year so that they could get a look at how the older players do against other section leaders.

“At the end of the game it planted a seed for the younger kids we brought up,” he said. “I’m excited for it to start up again.”

West pitcher Brittaney Enterline shut down Elk Grove’s batters in the first two innings. The Herd’s batters started to move around the bases in the third inning on a series of infield hits.

West’s coaches protested one play where Elk Grove’s Crump hit a grounder to third. West first baseman Caitlyn Girard had to step off the bag to catch the throw, and her glove and the ball were knocked from her hand as she tagged Crump in the baseline. Officials called Crump safe at first and the scorekeeper ruled it an error on West.

Elk Grove ended up with four runs in the third, and collected two more in the fourth on a series of four base hits.

• To reach Sports Editor Bob Brownne, call 830-4227 or e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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