With two outs and a full count, Sophie Anderson stood on third base representing the game-winning run in the CIF-Southern Section Division 8 championship game Friday afternoon.
Hesperia Christian tied the game minutes prior after Eden Skinner stole third base and then scored on an error.
The 3-2 pitch to Riley Cooper missed for ball four to load the bases. But a wild pitch allowed Anderson to race home to try and win the game for the Patriots.
“I just saw that ball go and something in me just took over and I just went,” Anderson said after scoring the game-winning run as Hesperia Christian beat Jurupa Valley 8-7 at Deanna Manning Stadium in Irvine.
It’s the first time in school history that Hesperia Christian captures a CIF-SS softball title. Hesperia Christian had teams advance to a title game in 1994 and 2009.
“It made me feel good but at the same time, I didn’t win just because of me," she said. "I won because of my team and my coaches.”
Hesperia Christian had a one-run lead entering the seventh inning and starting pitcher Macy Piorkowski quickly got two outs.
Yazmeen Ruiz singled after falling behind 0-2. The game appeared to be over after the following pitch. Saytha Sanchez singled to center field and Elyse Vander Weide fielded the ball and fired to third base.
The throw beat Ruiz. But Riley Piorkowski went to apply the tag and the ball popped out of her glove, leaving runners on second and third base.
Jayden Carrillo singled up the middle to give the Jaguars a 7-6 lead. Piorkowski escaped the inning after getting Taylor Martin to ground out to Skinner at shortstop.
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Skinner led off the bottom of the inning with a single and advanced to second base on a single from Hailey Hoffman, putting two runners on with no outs. Two pitches later, Skinner broke for third base and then scored the tying run on the error. Hoffman advanced to third base, and then Anderson was hit by a pitch, putting runners on the corners with no outs. Vander Weide bunted and Martin, the pitcher, fielded the ball and threw to home to get Hoffman out trying to score for the first out.
Anderson reached third base, and Vander Weide advanced to second base.
Emily Terrill struck out for the second out, bringing Cooper up to bat, setting the stage for Anderson scoring the game-winning run and ending a game that saw 10 total errors committed, including four from Hesperia Christian.
An error is what helped Jurupa Valley get on the board in the first inning.
Jurupa Valley’s Samantha Amancio drew a leadoff walk after quickly falling behind 0-2, and then advanced to second on an error, putting two runners on. Piorkowski struck out the next two batters.
But Amancio scored on a passed ball, and then Jurupa Valley scored another run for a 2-0 lead.
Hesperia Christian came right back in the bottom of the inning on a run-scoring single from Hailey Hoffman to even the score 2-2.
The Patriots took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning after Vander Weide scored on a fielder’s choice hit by Terrill. They doubled the lead to 4-2 shortly after Vander Weide scored on a wild pitch with Gabby Stoops up to bat.
Piorkowski ran into a bit of trouble in the fifth inning. The leadoff batter reached on an error and Piorkowski got the next two batters out. She then hit a batter, putting runners on first and third base.
Ruiz lined a single to score Crystal Macias and cut the lead to a run, with two runners on. But Piorkowski struck out Sanchez on three pitches to escape the jam.
Hesperia Christian added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Jurupa Valley recorded the first two outs before loading the bases. Terrill grounded the ball to shortstop, and an error by Amancio led to two more runs and a 6-3 lead.
Those runs proved to be crucial. The Jaguars struck for two more runs in the top of the sixth inning on passed balls, cutting Hesperia Christian’s lead to 6-5 and setting the stage for the wild seventh inning.
Hesperia Christian (19-5) will be off for a week and await the release of the CIF State regional tournament brackets. The tournament will begin on May 28.
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