The Citrus College Owls defeated the West Los Angeles Wildcats in a five-inning game, 12-0, at the Owl’s Nest.
The Owls came into the game with a 10-6 record. It was the Owls’ third game in conference play, coming in with a 1-1 conference record. The Wildcats came in with an 0-18 record.
To start the game, Owls starting pitcher freshman Emily Paredez had a solid inning with the only runner reaching due to catcher’s interference.
The Owls struck first with three runs in the first inning.
Freshmen Giavanna Muenz and Shania Carlin, and sophomore Valerie Ortiz were all walked to load the bases in the first inning.
Muenz and Carlin were brought home thanks to sacrifice flies from sophomores Leticia Morales and Mia Escobar. Ortiz scored on a wild pitch.
In the second Inning, Muenz hit a single to bring in sophomore Jacquelyn Preciado, who got on base due to a fielding error.
Muenz reached third on a fielding error as well. Ortiz then tripled to bring in Preciado to make the score 5-0.
Morales singled to bring home Ortiz to make the score 6-0.
Owls’ head coach Terry Paredez said he was satisfied with his team capitalizing on their opportunities.
“I think the team did what they were supposed to do,” Paredez said, “they came out and they were selective at the plate, they were patient, they were able to hit the ball and put the ball in play and were able to take the base they were given.”
The Owls exploded in the third inning, scoring five runs on West L.A. with a triple from Muenz and a ground rule double from freshman Brooke Fuss.
The Owls were able to score on sacrifice flies from both freshman Nicole Michels and sophomore Molly Montell and on a single from freshman Alexis Acosta.
In the top of the third, pitcher Paredez was able to keep her no-hit bid going thanks to the Owls’ defense keeping runners from reaching.
“I think I did okay,” Paredez said. “I think there’s always room for improvement, but overall I was pretty happy with my performance.”
Citrus got on the board one more time in the fourth inning with a single from freshman Alex Valenzuela that scored freshman Brym De La O to make it 12-0.
Paredez lost her no-hit bid in the top of the fourth when West L.A. freshman Stephanie Escamilla hit a single.
Paredez finished with four strikeouts, one walk and four innings pitched.
Morales came in for relief and closing duty in the top of the fifth inning.
After Morales got a 1-2-3 inning, the home plate umpire activated the mercy rule, which ended the game.
The Owls had two errors and eight hits while the Wildcats had five errors and one hit.
The Owls moved to 11-6 with pitcher Emily Paredez improving to a 6-1 record.
After the game, Citrus alumni and West L.A. assistant coach Oscar Venegas said that he wanted to improve on his team’s consistency.
“We just have to be more consistent,” Venegas said. “We are a first-year program, so we have inexperienced players at some positions, and it’s just being patient and having the girls do repetitive skills and drills and build their confidence.”
The Owls’ next home game is at 2:30 p.m. March 8 at the Owl’s Nest against Antelope Valley.
