4-1 loss at Piedmont Hills drops Live Oak to fourth in Mount
Hamilton Division
SAN JOSE — Three days after a 4-1 loss to Pioneer all but crippled their league-title hopes, the Lady Acorns took another hit Monday – this time to their playoff chances.
Live Oak fell 4-1 at Piedmont Hills and now sit fourth in Mount Hamilton Division softball with four games left, starting at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Evergreen Valley.
If the Central Coast Section playoffs began today, Live Oak (7-6-1 overall, 7-3 league) would still make the cut, though not by much. Piedmont Hills (10-10, 5-4) is a game behind in fifth and will visit Live Oak on May 14 to end the regular season.
A couple more hits could put the Acorns back on track. They produced two Monday -– singles by Hailey Nelson and Kayla Cisneroz in the first and seventh innings, respectively -– plus lead-off walks drawn by Cisneroz, Erin Leggett and Jenna Robertson.
Jacey Turay scored Live Oak’s run off an error in the seventh. The Acorns were in position to build on that with two outs after Sam Bejarano drew a walk, and courtesy-runner Rachel Ditta stole third while Leggett took Ball 4. With runners at the corners, Priscilla Orona flied out to deep right to end it.
The Pirates were held to six hits themselves, albeit four doubles. They scattered two runs in the first two innings off Ditta and pair more in the third and fifth against Katie Obbema, who had three strikeouts.
Jenina Ortega batted 2 for 3 with a double to lead the Pirates.
Piedmont Hills’ Katie Ortega took over in the circle after the first out and struck out two.
