Big first carries Hillsdale softball team over Woodside

“Our girls’ played good,” said Hillsdale head coach Clinch Fuentes. “It was a real close game the last time we played them. This time, we came out swinging.”

In the first meeting April 22, Woodside scored a run in the top of the seventh to tie the game, only to see Hillsdale walk off with the win in the bottom of the frame.

Tuesday, there would be no late-game dramatics as Hillsdale jumped out to a 4-0 lead in its first at-bat of the game. The Knights tacked on two more in the second and added a couple of insurance runs in the sixth.

The game could have been different, however, but Woodside could not capitalize on early opportunities.

The Wildcats could have used some damage control in the first inning as Hillsdale scored four times. Bella Carreon, Mika Chong and Hannah Levy singled, reached on an error and walked, respectively, to load the bases. Alex Bunton drove in a pair with a double and Emilee Ghidossi drove in the third run with a groundout to second. Kristen Conliffe capped the rally by reaching on an error as Bunton scored.

Woodside came right back by loading the bases in the bottom of the first, but could not get the clutch hit and came away empty.

The missed opportunity hurt even more as the Knights came back with two more runs in the second. Veah Alvarez, the No. 9 hitter, drew a leadoff walk and Carreon singled to center, with Alvarez going to third. Chong followed with a sacrifice fly to right and Levy singled in Carreron for a 6-0 Hillsdale lead.

That proved to be enough offense for Hillsdale starting pitcher Sydney Nagamine. After the shaky first inning, she came back in the second by striking out the side and settling into a nice groove.

“She’s fantastic,” Fuentes said. “Her changeup was on fire today. [The pitching coaching staff] did a good job of mixing it in.”

Nagamine cruised through the first four innings. After giving up two hits in the first, she allowed only one more through the fourth.

But in the fifth, Woodside finally got its offense going. With one out, Emma Kinder reached on an error and scored two pitches later when Sydney Truesdale rocketed a triple off the fence in right field. Megan Barstad followed with a sacrifice fly to right to plate Truesdale.

Nagamine ended up pitching a complete game, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits.

Woodside starting pitcher Madi Truesdale, after the wobbly start, righted the ship and pitched well, working six innings. She held Hillsdale to just a pair of hits over the next three innings to keep her team in the game.

“She’s a gamer,” Alexa Daines, Woodside manager, said of Truesdale.

But she couldn’t hold down Hillsdale forever as the Knights touched her up for a pair of two-out runs in the top of the sixth. Chong worked a walk and courtesy runner Leialoha Ah Tou raced around and scored on a Levy double to the left-center field gap. Bunton followed with her second RBI-double of the game to put the Knights up 8-2.

Those two runs made things a little easier for the Knights in the bottom of the seventh as the Wildcats rallied for two more runs, with Madi Truesdale picking up an RBI.

“It was a tough one. We came out flat,” Daines said. “We had plenty of opportunities to get back in it.

“We have to work on minimizing the damage a little more.”