Etiwanda softball team fends off late comeback attempt by Chino Hills – San Bernardino Sun

CHINO HILLS — Kimmy Aleman cruised for six innings. Suddenly, she needed to deliver one of her biggest pitches of the game.

Chino Hills scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, but Aleman rolled a ground ball to second base and stranded the tying run at third base as Etiwanda escaped with a 3-2 win over the Huskies in a key Baseline League battle Friday afternoon.

“They scored two, but so what? We still had the lead,” Aleman said. “I wasn’t worried about that. I went right after the next batter.”

Aleman is headed to Oregon State, primarily because of her prowess at the plate. She was Etiwanda’s No. 3 pitcher last season and started this season as the No. 2. But Aleman was thrust into the spotlight when the team’s ace, Alyssa Galindo, was sidelined with an injury. Galindo returned to the lineup Friday as the designated player, but a return to the circle remains a question mark.

“She’s really stepped up for us,” Etiwanda coach Adrianna Brown said about Aleman. “She’s done everything we’ve asked of her and more. Alyssa being out hasn’t hurt us because Kimmy is throwing so well. We know we can still compete with her out there.”

Galindo gave Etiwanda (14-2 overall, 1-0 in league) the early lead, as she singled home Karrington Bennett in the top of the first. The Eagles looked for more runs, but Chino Hills starter Nadia Juarez got a 5-2-3 double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam.

Etiwanda had two on with one out in the second but came away empty after a runner was called out for leaving early tagging up.

“Nadia came out very hyped for this game, and that contributed to some high balls early,” Chino Hills coach Richard Gaither said. “She got out of those early jams and kept us in this game… She settled in after that and really pitched one helluva game today.”

The Eagles extended their lead in the fifth, when Justyne Zabala went from first to third on a single by Dailynn Battee and then scored when the threw got away. Brianna Gutierrez belted a solo homer to left field to push Etiwanda’s lead to 3-0  in the sixth. The Eagles finished the game with nine hits. Taylor Wren went 2 for 3, and seven other Etiwanda batters recorded one base hit.

Chino Hills (12-8, 1-1) managed only two hits against Aleman through six innings, a pair of infield singles by Kyler Del Duca and Sophia Tice. The Huskies made some adjustments the third time through the order and started making hard contact on the ball.