Sequoia’s Ainsley Waddell blanks Aragon

With the win, second-place Sequoia (6-2 PAL Bay, 13-4 overall) moves within one game of first-place Aragon in the PAL Bay Division standings. The loss was the first of the season in league play for the Dons (7-1, 11-4).

“We’re feeling pretty good,” Sequoia catcher Emerson Seevers said. “We really wanted it. We came in hungry, especially losing to them last time … so we really wanted it. And everybody showed up and did their job.”

Waddell has now held Aragon to two runs over two games this season. The teams last met March 24 when the Dons escaped with a 2-1 lead. In that game, Waddell and Sequoia neutralized Aragon’s two big bats, Liv DiNardo and Megan Grant, by intentionally walking the left-handed hitting sluggers in each of their eight combined plate appearances.

This time around, Waddell had some wiggle room with her Ravens rallying for two runs in the top of the first. Sequoia, however, had already decided to pitch to DiNardo and Grant.

“We kind of decided before the game,” Seevers said. “Ainsley was feeling confident, and we just rode on that. She was ready to throw. Last time we were a little more tentative and this time she went after them, and it ended up paying off.”

Only once did either DiNardo or Grant bat representing the tying run, with Grant stepping to the plate with one on and two outs in the bottom of the third. Waddell — who, considering the four intentional passes the previous time they met, had never pitched to Grant in her life prior to Tuesday — went after the UCLA-bound shortstop and coaxed a groundout to shortstop to end the inning.

Waddell’s biggest test came in the sixth inning though, after DiNardo finally put a charge into one, smoking a leadoff double to left-center.

“I was getting a little bit anxious the last couple games and I wanted to settle in and find a pitch I could really hit hard,” DiNardo said. “That’s what I did.”

Then, after Janelle Jee singled to left and moved to second on a throw from the outfield, Sequoia gave Grant the Barry Bonds treatment by intentionally walking her to load the bases, despite Grant representing the go-ahead run.

“I was feeling good,” Aragon head coach Liz Roscoe. “I thought we had a great opportunity, and we just didn’t come through. … We just couldn’t execute today. That’s just the way it falls.”

From there, Waddell buckled down. The Central Coast Section strikeout leader recorded back-to-back strikeouts, both on called third strikes, with Seevers framing the high-and-inside fastball effectively.

“Just having trust in my pitches and my catcher,” Waddell said of the secret to her success. “She did a great job.”

Then Aragon junior Brooklyn Blake hit a soft chopper to the left side, with third baseman Claire Sarrail saving the day by making a difficult play look routine, charging in and throwing on the run, off her back foot, to get Blake at first for the third out of the inning.

Sequoia went on to score an insurance run in the top of the seventh on an RBI single from Mackenzie Jackson. DiNardo and Grant didn’t get to bat again in the game as Waddell closed it out facing the Nos. 7-9 batters in the bottom of the seventh.

“It was fantastic,” Sequoia head coach Michelle Sarrail said. “We just were feeling it. Ainsley’s really been working hard. We’ve been looking to see where Olivia and Megan are hitting, and which spots to hit. We just wanted to take it inning by inning, situation by situation. … So, it was great.”

Sequoia caught two big breaks in the first inning, though, with two miscues in the Aragon outfield. Ravens leadoff hitter Talia Tokheim reached on a dropped line drive to left to open the game. Two batters later, with Jackson at the plate, Aragon’s left fielder lost a high fly ball in the sun, allowing Tokheim to score from first and Jackson standing at third.

“I felt we gave them the game,” Roscoe said. “That’s two games in a row we have not played good defense. Today was the first time ever that we didn’t hit. We had a few good hits, but nothing compiled together.”

Gigi Odom then delivered a two-out RBI single to score Jackson, staking Waddell and Sequoia to a 2-0 lead.

“It’s very helpful,” Waddell said of taking the field in the bottom of the first with a two-run lead. “It just builds a lot of confidence in knowing my team has my back. They always do.”

Jackson finished with a 3-for-4 day, reaching base in all four of her plate appearances.

Aragon starting pitcher Rae D’Amato took the loss, departing after one inning of work, allowing two unearned runs on one hit. Sophomore reliever Brooke Tran worked six innings, allowing one run on seven hits and striking out seven.

Waddell now has 162 strikeouts on the season, leading the CCS, according to MaxPreps.com. The shutout was the first time the Dons have been blanked this season, and just the third time in the DiNardo-Grant era.

“She’s a good pitcher,” DiNardo said. “She did her job, but we didn’t do our job. We beat them last time. What can we say? She’s a good pitcher and it was an off day for us, and we deserve the consequence of it. But I wouldn’t count us out just yet. We’re going to be all right.”