Freshman Madeline Ferries pitched a complete game and racked up five strikeouts. | Credit: Gary Kim

A strong pitching performance by freshman Madeline Ferries and a three-run homer by senior Jenna Hayes boosted the Bishop Diego softball team to a 6-1 victory over visiting Carpinteria in a non-league contest on Tuesday afternoon.

The Cardinals dodged a bullet in the top half of the third inning. With the score tied 1-1, Carpinteria had runners on first and second with nobody out when Alexiana Jaimes hit a shot to left field that was caught by Bishop Diego’s Yvette Rosales, much to the surprise of the baserunners, who were caught off guard, resulting in a triple play that ended the inning. 

That momentum swing was one of the key plays in the game.

“You just have to be alert. Especially when it leads to a triple play,” said Carpinteria coach Dakotah Wilcox. “We have to be aware of the situation, where the ball is being hit, and who is catching it.”

Bishop Diego immediately capitalized in the bottom of the third inning as Hayes launched a home run on the first pitch of her at-bat, driving in Lily Simolon and Tessa Johansen to put the Cardinals ahead 4-1. It was Hayes’s first home run of the season.


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“Hayes is one of our captains and one of the leaders of the team. She really makes sure the girls stay focused on softball when they are out here,” said Bishop Diego coach MeLinda Matsumoto. “She was a freshman when I started with the program. In her first practice, there were three girls that showed up because a bunch were still at basketball and soccer. I said, ‘Hey, come find your friends and bring them out here,’ so it’s really cool to see her develop over these years and be able to hit the ball out.”

From that point on, Ferries and the Bishop Diego defense locked in and kept the Carpinteria offense at bay. Ferries surrendered just four hits and one run, with five strikeouts over her seven innings of work. 

Amarisse Camargo went two-for-three at the plate to account for much of Carpinteria’s offensive production.

The Cardinals (3-6 overall, 0-2 Tri-Valley League) finished with 12 hits and did not commit an error in the field in one of their most complete performances of the season thus far.

“Our hitting was key. Just being able to see the ball and hit the ball and being really aggressive early,” Matsumoto said. “Defensively, we played really solid. The outfielders were getting the ball to the infield, and the infield was making routine plays.”

Bishop Diego will travel to Foothill Tech for a Tri-Valley League contest on Thursday beginning at 4 p.m.


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