Lady Warriors Collect Third Double-Header Sweep

The Nelson Lady Warriors softball team (14-16) continued their recent tear after a week off, sweeping their third doubleheader this season, this time with a pair of shut outs against La Sierra: 8-0 in Game 1 and 4-0 in Game 2. The sweep moves the club to 8-4 in March, the perfect time to get hot as they head into the second half of the season.

Game 1: Nelson 8, La Sierra 0
The Warriors broke out of the early scoreless tie in the bottom of the second inning, when, with runners on the corners, Game 2 starting pitcher Araeya Cosay crushed a pitch into the gap in left center, driving in both runners, ending up on second base with a double, the hit giving the Warriors a 2-0 lead. After the lead was stretched to 3-0 in the bottom of the 4^th inning when Cosay once again delivered with runners in scoring position, singling this time to the gap in right center driving in Vanessa Philpot, the ladies put the game away in the bottom of the 5^th when Maritza Rodriguez cleared the bases with a three-run double, pushing the lead to 6-0.

With the Golden Eagles unable to get any sort of a rally started, against starting pitcher Kelly Katalbas, the Warriors entered the bottom of the 6^th with the opportunity to end the game early due to a mercy rule, and ready to do just that. Again, the Warriors loaded the bases, this time with no outs for Rojas, who grounded to third base. However, while the third baseman was unable to hold the runner, she was able to throw out Rojas, but not only did Briyanei Celaya who had been occupying third base score, the other two runners moved up. On the very next pitch, the La Sierra catcher was unable to handle the at-bat's first pitch, and when the ball skittered to the wall, Destiny Media came into score, pushing the lead to 8-0, and officially ending the game with the run rule.

Katalbas was at her best in the circle, moving to 7-6 on the season after throwing all six innings, allowing just 3 hits while striking out 3, needing just 67 pitches in a highly efficient outing.

Game 2: Nelson 4, La Sierra 0
The Lady Warriors did all of their damage in the third and fourth innings, but due to strong pitching once again, it did not take much to put the Golden Eagles to rest.

Nelson broke through in the bottom of the third when one of the hottest bats in the lineup, Estevannie Rojas, came to the plate with one-out and Briyanei Celaya standing on second just itching to run. Fortunately, she would get her opportunity when Rojas smacked a pitch up the that which the center fielder could not cleanly handle, allowing her to not only reach second while Celaya came around to score, but Rojas was able to skitter her way to third base on the poor throw back to the infield. Maritza Rodriguez then next came up, crushing the first pitch she saw, sending it to the left center gap, driving in Rojas, and doubling the Warriors' lead to 2-0.

In the bottom of the fourth, Emily Quigg pushed a full-count pitch through the left side of the infield sprinting to first to lead off the inning. Wanting to do some real damage and not just get on base, Destiny Medina took a 2-1 pitch to the wall, doubling to left center, driving in Quigg for her team's third run. Two batters later, Kily Hernandez got a pitch down the middle and sent that ball just over the infielder's heads, ending up at first base, but scoring Media, for her team's fourth and final run.

Araeya Cosay and Adenira Marquez combined for seven strong innings, allowing a combined 3 hits, 3 walks, and 3 strikeouts in the victory, which Cosay picked up the win, her third, against six losses.

Maritza Rodriguez led the way at the plate across both games, finishing 3-5 with 4RBI. Cosay threw five strong innings in the second game, to go along with a 2-3 game at the plate in the 1^st, driving in 3 runs. Estevannie Rojas finished 3-6 with 2RBI and 2 runs scored.

See the Nelson Warriors' softball page for their upcoming schedule.

Do not forget to follow Nelson Athletics on X at @NelsonWarriors and Instagram at @nelsonwarriors.athletics.