Live Oak falls 2-0 to No. 7 Westmont
MORGAN HILL — Their defense impeccable, their hitting unshakable, the Lady Acorns had the home crowd at Live Oak’s softball field on the edge of its seats for most of Tuesday’s game against first-place Westmont.
They created a buzz few would expect from a team headed for the offseason — rather than the postseason — and not just for the sake of Senior Day.
The Acorns wanted a win.
“Our team’s gone through a lot this season, so we’re trying to end strong,” said catcher Kourtney Kientzy, one of seven Live Oak seniors honored before the game. “We wanted to do our best.”
In essence, the Acorns came up one hit short. They stranded four base runners, including two in the second inning, and settled for a 2-0 loss to a co-league champion.
The Warriors (11-2 league) — ranked No. 7 this week by the San Jose Mercury News — are guaranteed to finish no worse than tied for first in the Mount Hamilton Division.
“We came at them with a lot of energy today,” Live Oak first-year coach Alex Sutton said. “Our energy was definitely there. We were just hitting it right at them. It was a plus to see that, though; to see them fight.”
The Acorns (4-9) has been there before many times this year: locked in a close game against a powerhouse team. They were coming off a 3-1 loss to Evergreen Valley — ranked No. 12 by the Mercury News. Before that, Live Oak dropped a one-run decision to No. 8 Leigh.
“The girls played very relaxed today and very confident,” Sutton said. “Confidence has always been there. They know they can play with any team. I think it just took them a while to get used to playing with each other and to start believing they are good.”
Live Oak battled at the plate, but couldn’t crack junior pitcher Christine Higgins, who picked up her 15th win of the season. Higgins (15-3) struck out five and gave up four hits in a complete-game effort.
“Our pitcher has been strong, especially the last couple of weeks,” Westmont coach Jon Hennig said. “The last three games, she’s given up one earned run. She’s rolling.”
Trailing 1-0, the Acorns nearly pulled even in the third inning after Mary Luna led off with a walk, and Stephanie Doting reached on an infield single. Live Oak’s No. 9 batter, Michelle Jacob, moved both runners over with a sacrifice bunt, prompting Sutton to go for a squeeze play with Kirsten Doting, Stephanie’s sister. Kirsten Doting dropped her bunt in front of the plate, but catcher Casey Morris pounced on the ball and tagged out Luna just in time.
Hennig then struck out Priscilla Orona to retire the side.
“We’re a very unpredictable team,” Kientzy said. “If we were more consistent we would have had more success. We needed hits at the right time.”
After Nicole Gauthier’s bases-loaded single gave the Warriors a two-run lead in the fourth, Live Oak looked ready to bounce back again in the bottom half. Jenna Robertson’s lead-off double to the corner in left field gave the Acorns a man in scoring position with no outs. That rally ended quickly, though, as cleanup hitter Brooke Willis lined out to center, Kientzy popped out to second, and Jacey Turay grounded out to third.
“We didn’t see anything we couldn’t hit from their pitcher,” Willis said. “She had some good stuff, but nothing extraordinary. She was pitching strikes, and we weren’t hitting.”
Willis lined out again in the sixth after Robertson stroked a two-out single to left. Robertson finished 2-for-3 batting.
“We had to put the ball in play today and limit mistakes — because they weren’t going away,” Hennig said. “We got a couple of hits there and got the two runs. We didn’t feel comfortable until the second came across.”
Higgins singled home Jessica Barrett in the second on the way to a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Barrett doubled and reached in two of her three plate appearances. Sarina Araujo also singled for the Warriors, who were limited to five hits by Live Oak starter Kelly Hillman. The senior righty struck out two and walked one in seven full innings.
Hillman was aided with strong defense behind her. Orona had five putouts, and Willis tagged out two runners in one play to end the second. After gloving a hard groundball, Willis got Araujo, who was leading off too far, then threw to Kristen Doting at first to try and get Gauthier. Jenny Bybee made a break for third on Willis’ throw, but Doting snapped the ball back to Willis to nail Bybee, a textbook 5-3-5 double play.
“Our defense has stepped up,” Sutton said. “It just goes back to confidence. Sometimes when things go wrong, we crumple. But today, we were just on a better foundation.”
Knowing they likely won’t be included in the CIF-Central Coast Section Playoff field announced this weekend, the Acorns plan to make the most of their regular-season finale Thursday at Leland.
“You keep it in the back of your head — the season’s almost over. You can’t help it,” Willis, a senior, said. “We lost pretty bad to Leland last time. We want to get back and put together a good game; win or lose.”
