DOLPHINS OUTSCORE GECKOS 15-13

By Nick Akimoto

It was a track meet at the Tuesday night ISA Softball League match at Okkodo Field. Both teams combining for a total of 45 bases stolen and the Southern Dolphins came out with a close 15-13 win over the GW Geckos.

Chloe Taijeron and Halana Duenas personally ran in for six of Southern’s 15 runs, including Duenas’ first run, in which she stole second, third and home all in the same inning. Taijeron, meanwhile, finished the night with three singles and two RBIs.

“We definitely do a lot of base running in practice,” Duenas said.

Although the Dolphins showed guts by stealing 18 bases throughout the night, the Geckos’ play calling was even more gutsy, finishing the night with 27 bases stolen in between pitches. The Geckos stole home for five runs and had three players steal second, third and home in the same inning throughout the match.

Final inning

Due to the league’s two-hour time limit on a single match, the game only lasted four innings, but things were close in the top of the fourth. The Dolphins were up 13-11 to start the inning and were first at bat.

Duenas and Taijeron both made their way on base as Hannah Gamboa went up to bat, looking to bring them in. Gamboa hit a grounder straight back to the pitcher, but successfully managed to bring in Duenas to tack on one more run. Haide San Nicolas followed up with a single to shortstop, which brought in Taijeron, making the score 15-11. The Geckos retired the dolphins to keep the deficit to fourth, but, due to the time limit, their next at bat would be their last.

After Marley Quintanilla was walked for the Geckos, she stole second and third to put herself in scoring position. A pop up by Elahna Gumataotao was caught by the Dolphins for their first out, but Aleah Castro walked her way to first to put two runners on the field for GW.

Amylin Castro would follow up, as she hit a single to bring in Quintanilla and close the deficit to 15-12.
After the Geckos next batter would give the Dolphins a flyout, Southern only needed one more out to close out the game.

GW’s Deztinie Ogo successfully made her way on base as the Geckos’ tying run. As Emily Cruz went up to bat, she hit one to Dolphin second baseman Duenas, who turned it over to first to secure the victory.

“We need to focus more on the coaches giving us the signals. Our communication is really good, but sometimes it gets hard,” said Duenas as they look forward to their next matchup against the Tiyan Titans.

In the earlier game, the Sanchez Sharks beat the Okkodo Bulldogs in a high scoring 22-15 match.

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