Cloverdale continues to dominate St. Vincent

Cloverdale Junior pitcher Tehya Bird continued to punish St. Vincent last week, pitching and hitting the Eagles to an 8-2 win over the Mustangs.

Bird and the Eagles beat the Mustangs, 7-6, in last season’s North Coast Section Division 5 championship and stopped St. Vincent, 7-4, earlier this season in the finals of the Cloverdale Tournament.

Last week, the host Mustangs, to their credit, never backed away from one of the best pitchers in the North Bay, standing in to collect five hits and three walks. Only four St. Vincent batters went down on strikes. But, when Bird needed an out, her solid defense made the plays that had to be made.

At the plate, Bird slugged a pair of doubles and a roof-shot home run that thudded down on top of the St. Vincent gym behind the left-field fence.

It was her teammate, sophomore Vanessa Fisher, who got the Eagles on the way to victory. After St. Vincent freshman pitcher Sophie Skubic had pretty well handled Cloverdale through three scoreless innings, Fisher soared a three-run homer over the center-field fence, and the visitors had enough to win.

Cloverdale strung together four hits durjng a four-run fifth-inning rally, and Bird delivered her bomb in the seventh to cap off the Cloverdale win. St. Vincent had its opportunities, putting runners on base in six of its seven at bats, but it wasn’t until the fifth frame that a walk to Sarah Sarlatte and a line double to left by Alex Ditizio produced a run.

Another double, this one a long fly to center field by Abby Caivajal, produced St. Vincent’s second run when she scored on a ground out by Ditizio.

Ditizio was practically the sum of the St. Vincent offense, accounting for three of its hits and driving home both of its runs.

Morning loss

Rancho Cotate pitcher Kaylee Drake was even tougher on St. Vincent in a Saturday morning game, blanking the Mustangs, 6-0, with a three-hitter.

The final score was a bit deceiving as Rancho Cotate did its scoring in the second inning when it erupted for all six of its runs.

Skubic shut the Cougars down over the final five innings, allowing just three hits.

St. Vincent’s only hits were doubles by Ditizio and Alysa Smith and a single by Sarah Sarlatte.

St. Vincent is now 6-4 on the season.