Crescenta Valley Bulldozes Bulldogs

Following its defeat in the teams' early-season nonleague meeting a year ago, the Crescenta Valley High softball team couldn't wait for its rematch with Burbank.

Evidently, the feeling was not mutual on the part of the Bulldogs.

Burbank looked lost at the plate against Falcons pitcher Kali Cancelosi, and after a couple of rough innings in the field, the Bulldogs' body language suggested they wished they were elsewhere.

The result was a 16-1 mercy-rule-shortened, five-inning Pacific League victory for Crescenta Valley at Burbank's McCambridge Park.

"I think we came out with our full force, and everyone was just ready to play thinking that [the Bulldogs] were going to be [in] top [form]," said Falcons sophomore shortstop Baillie Kirker, who went three for four with a run batted in, a triple and two runs scored. "We just played to the best of our ability, and Kali did a great job today."

Cancelosi allowed one run on six hits, while striking out three, in five innings. By the time she allowed her second hit of the game in the third inning, however, the Falcons (5-2, 3-0 in league) already held a commanding 9-1 lead.

Bulldogs pitcher Megan Schafer, a freshman, made the start in place of sophomore Kristin Peraza, who was absent due to a medical emergency in her family.

While they did record 16 hits against Schafer, most of the damage the Falcons did was fueled by seven Burbank fielding errors.

"[Peraza's] sister is having some surgery and [she] couldn't make it. Family is obviously much more important than softball," first-year Burbank Coach Kris Jones said. "It was up to the team to pick it up, and we didn't show up today.

"We didn't hit the ball today and we didn't field well."

Crescenta Valley took a quick 2-0 lead on two unearned runs in the first inning. Catcher Lainey DePompa's grounder made it through the left side of the infield for a run-scoring error before Caitlyn Cox drove in Alyssa Sovereign, who also reached on an error.

The Falcons reeled off seven more runs in the third inning on six more hits and two more Bulldogs fielding errors.

Kirker's two-out triple off the center-field fence, which scored the ninth run, was the first hard-struck ball against Schafer.

"From the second inning on, it was like the air went out of the balloon," Jones said of his team's failure to answer the bell. "I told them before the game, 'The only way we win this game is for everybody to give 110%.'"

The Bulldogs (5-6, 2-1) finally broke through with a run in the fourth inning on a single to left field by Schafer that scored Melissa Sanchez from third base.

It made the score, 10-1, but the Falcons weren't done scoring.

Erin Schwartz's double to center field scored Kaela Green and Kirker for two more runs. Three batters later, Zarah Montes singled with the bases loaded to plate another pair of runs.

Leadoff hitter Ashleigh Viers-Gordillo went three for five with three RBIs and two runs scored.

"Our kids were focused," Falcons Coach Dan Berry said. "They played hard, hit the ball well and we ran aggressively."