Hillsdale routs Cougars

“This isn’t baseball. People can’t wait to see how far they can hit the ball,” McDonald said. “The first couple games, everyone was trying to hit the palm tree (over the fence in left field).”

The Knights seem to have gotten those early season jitters out of the way. And while they can still hit the long ball, they’re also showing they can play station-to-station ball as they used both forms of offense to drill visiting Half Moon Bay Thursday, 15-1.

After a scoreless first, Hillsdale (1-0 PAL Bay, 5-1 overall) got back-to-back homers in the second inning to take a 5-0 lead. The Knights then strung together four hits, two walks and a hit batter to score five more runs in the third and then used a combination of big and timely hits to wrap up their scoring with five more runs in the bottom of the fourth.

The Knights got contributions up and down the lineup. Leadoff hitter Sophia Eftekhari — who blasted a grand slam in the second — and No. 9 hitter Caitlin Regan combined to reach base in all seven of their plate appearances, going 5 for 5 with two walks, five runs scored and eight RBIs.

“Whether you’re the three hitter of seven, eight, nine, someone has to put a bunt down or hit the ball to the left side,” McDonald said.

Bella Carreon also reached base in her three at-bats and scored three runs, getting hit by a pitch twice and drawing a walk. Addison Eftekhari was 2 for 3 with a home run, a double and two runs scored.

While Hillsdale appears to be hitting its stride, Half Moon Bay is still trying to figure out what kind of team it is. The Cougars’ only non-league game was rained out so Tuesday’s PAL Bay Division opener against Capuchino, a 1-0 loss, was their first game of the season.

The Cougars’ scoring drought to start the season reached 10 innings before they scratched out a run in the top of the fourth inning.

But the hits were few and far between for HMB, which facilitated a long post-game meeting with first-year head coach Callie Pacheco-Barkley, a 2009 HMB graduate.

“It was kind of a come-to-Jesus meeting,” Pacheco-Barkley said. “Do you want to have fun or do you want to compete? I need to know so I can adjust my mindset (as head coach).”

The Cougars definitely have the talent to compete. There are three seniors on the team — Jerrika D’Aquisto, Mailie Bowers and Marissa Terra — who were freshmen when the Cougars won the 2016 Central Coast Section Division III title, a team on which Pacheco-Barkley was an assistant coach.

And while there are a total of six returning players from 2018, the rest of the HMB roster is peppered with first-year, freshmen players.

Hillsdale starting pitcher Kealani Kaufusi had a lot to do with the Cougars’ struggles at the plate. The senior, a four-year varsity player, allowed only two hits through three innings of work, striking out four with no walks.

“She’s always been a power pitcher. What she’s gotten better at is her changeup,” McDonald said.

After a scoreless first, Hillsdale scored all the runs it would need in the bottom of the second. Kaufusi led off the inning by reaching on catcher’s interference. Hannah Levy then drew a one-out walk and Regan reached on an infield hit to load the bases. Sophia Eftekhari, a junior, came up and, on a 2-2 pitch, hammered a ball into the left-center field gap, racing around the bases for the grand slam and a 4-0 lead.

It was 5-0 two pitches later when senior Addison Eftekhari blasted a ball to deep center field and also made it around the bases for the second of back-to-back shots for the Eftekhari sisters.

In the third, the Knights loaded the bases again and then used a series of base hits and walks to plate five more runs as they sent 10 batters to the plate. Sophia Eftekhari, Addison Eftekhari, Brittany Santos, Levy and Regan all drove in a run in the inning.

Half Moon Bay (0-2) finally ended its scoring drought when the Cougars scored their first run of the season in the top of the third inning. Facing Hillsdale reliever Sydney Nagamine, Chloe Moffitt led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. Abby Claudius followed with a walk and both runners moved up on a wild pitch. Moffitt would come in to score on a Genevieve Belmonte groundout.

“Better than nothing,” Pacheco-Barkley said.

Hillsdale, however, came back with five more runs on four more hits in the fourth. Regan had the big hit in the inning for the Knights, delivering a two-run single. Addison Eftekhari added a RBI double two batters later.

“All of our hitters all compete at a high level in the summer,” McDonald said. “And they’re starting to find their groove.”