Dos Pueblos standout Anastasia Brunner smashed a line drive to right center that would have easily cleared the fence for a game-tying, two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth inning, but Harvard Westlake center fielder Kale’a Tindal sprinted back to the fence and perfectly timed her jump for a spectacular catch.
Tindal’s moment of brilliance shifted momentum and boosted Harvard Westlake to a 12-9 victory over Dos Pueblos in the Quarterfinals of the CIF-SS Division 4 playoffs.
“I just had to tip my hat to that girl; I don’t want to say it was cool, but it was so cool,” said Dos Pueblos coach Mike Gerken of Tindal’s catch. “That’s what you want; it was our number-one athlete and their number-one athlete going head to head, and their number-one athlete did what number-one athletes do.”
It was an uphill battle for Dos Pueblos from the very beginning as Tindal, who is committed to Stanford to play collegiate softball, led off the game with a solo home run.
The visiting Wolverines added three more runs in the inning on a two-run triple by Peyton Perriott and an RBI single by Hannah Tabesh.
Dos Pueblos got two runs back in the bottom of the first. Anastasia Brunner led off the inning with a walk and scored on a wild pitch, and Kacie Hurley came home on a single by Brooklyn Hedrick.
In the next few innings, the game got away from the Chargers as Harvard Westlake poured on seven unanswered runs to take an 11-2 lead.
Ainsley Nutting spearheaded the Wolverines’ scoring outburst with a solo home run in the top of the third and a grand slam in the top of the fourth inning.
However, Dos Pueblos ignited its comeback in the bottom of the fourth inning with four runs. Brunner doubled to the left field fence to score Vereniki Maniadi and Anna Gray. Later in the inning, Brooklyn Hendricks walked with the bases loaded, cutting the Dos Pueblos deficit to 11-6.
“I knew there was no give up in this team. I knew that we were going to get there,” Gerken said. “I predicted a shootout, and we got a shootout.”
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Chargers staged a two-out rally and were able to add two more runs on a Harvard Westlake error that allowed Brunner and Aubrey Carreno to come around, which shrunk the Harvard Westlake lead to 11-8.
A solo homer by Maniadi in the bottom of the sixth inning cut the Wolverines’ advantage to 11-9. After a single by Kylie Pearce and a sac bunt by Carreno, Brunner came up and nearly tied the game, but she was thwarted by Tindal’s heroics.
“Credit to that kid; that was one of the most spectacular plays under pressure I’ve ever seen,” Gerken said. “That thing was surely gone.”
Harvard Westlake added a run in the top of the seventh inning, and the Chargers were unable to muster a rally in the bottom of the seventh inning.
You must be logged in to post a comment.