PAIR OF HOME RUNS LIFT DOLPHINS

By Robert Balajadia

The unbeaten Southern Dolphins have been dominant all softball season long, but the four time champions were tested late against the GW Geckos where the Dolphins got a big lift in the 5th inning to best the Geckos 8-3 at the Dolphin field Saturday morning.

The Geckos had just tied the game at three runs in the top of the 5th inning off Colleen Quinata’s second home run while putting the pressure on the Dolphins. A quick series of outs allowed the Dolphins to respond in the inning with Brielle Meno leading off the roundup.

Meno hit two foul balls before smashing Geckos’ Celeene Mendiola’s pitch for a home run as well to knot the score at four runs. Tamisha Fejeran then stepped up and wasted no time knocking Mendiola’s pitch deep left for back-to-back home runs that appeared to give the Dolphins all the momentum they needed to grab a good lead.

“We needed to score more because we started out being down. Then after [Brielle] hit a home run, we were able to get things rolling,” said Fejeran.

The Dolphins were able to score on a pass ball while capitalizing on Gecko errors to jump out to an 8-3 lead, scoring five runs in the inning.

The Geckos need big opportunities to score in the 6th inning and were presented with great chances to put points on the board to narrow the gap. Geckos’ Mendiola got a double followed by a single from Zippora Baiei to put runners in scoring position.

Geckos Zippora Baiei keys in on the incoming pitch. (GSPN photo)

Krysta Jesus then came up to bat for GW with the bases loaded and created contact with the ball that sent a grounder to the Dolphins second baseman Meno, who made a great stop to get the quick  out at first base to prevent the Geckos from tacking on anymore points.

The Geckos were heading into the top of the 7th knowing they needed a five-run effort, but they had difficulty creating offense with the great defensive plays from the Dolphins’ outfield.

Girls softball season is coming to a close and the Dolphins know they have a legitimate shot to get the coveted five-peat title; a title that they have been talking about all-season long. The road to get there will be tough, but Fejeran and the girls have no lack of confidence.

“We need to practice more. Everyone needs to start coming to practice and we’ll be fine in the end.”