The Taft High softball team opened its quest for another deep run into the State playoffs Monday with a 12-2 five-inning nonleague home victory over Gervais.
“It was a good day to get all the first-game jitters out of the way,” Taft coach Sandy Stuart said. “We came out excited to play.”
Junior starting pitcher Emma Coulter helped her own cause with a first-inning home run and the Tigers collected eight hits — half of them coming off the bats of the team’s incoming freshmen, including an inside-the-park grand slam from Chloe Peterson.
“Emma came out throwing hard and leading the team as captain,” Stuart said. “She has a lot of power and I am excited to see her use it this season. Her little sister, Olivia, also made a big impact with two hits of her own.”
Kayla Lininger went 2-for-2 with three runs and two RBIs. for Taft, while Coulter drove home three runs and struck out eight while allowing just two hits.
Taft returns to play at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Class 2A Toledo at home.
“We got to see a lot of our roster play today, which was fun for a first game,” Stuart said. “We are young and working hard every day to learn all aspects of the game. I am looking forward to the season.”
Taft 12, Gervais 2 (5 innings)
GERVAIS AB R H BI TAFT AB R H BI
Nat Barrera 3 0 1 1 Kyla Knott 2 1 0 0
Lex Luna 1 0 0 0 Claira Tolan 3 0 0 0
Regena Vargas 3 0 0 0 Hailee Danneker 2 2 1 0
Alexa Rutledge 2 0 0 0 Emma Coulter 2 2 1 3
Jamie Roberts 2 1 0 0 Addie Gates 2 1 1 0
Kim Bartoleme 1 0 0 0 Kayla Lininger 2 3 2 2
Abby Saafeld 1 0 0 0 Olivia Coulter 2 1 2 1
Jasmine Fernandez 2 1 1 1 Lily Hatton 1 0 0 0
Veronica Esquivel 2 0 0 0 Corey Van Damme 1 1 0 0
Marisol Ayala 2 0 0 0 Makena Cole 1 0 0 0
Chloe PetersonN 2 1 1 4
Lilly Salsbery 1 0 0 0
TOTALS 19 2 2 2 TOTALS 21 12 8 10
GERVAIS 010 01 -- 2
TAFT 730 2x -- 12
LOB--GERVAIS 4, TAFT 4. ERR--Regena Vargas (2),
Kayla Lininger. 2B--Addie Gates, Olivia Coulter, Hailee
Danneker. HR--Chloe Peterson, Emma Coulter. HBP--Addie
Gates, Hailee Danneker, Corey VanDamme. SB--Kyla Knott.
GERVAIS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Veronica Esquivel 4 8 12 7 4 2 2
TAFT
Emma Coulter 5 2 2 0 2 8 0
PB--Lex Luna (3), Hailee Danneker. WP--Veronica Esquivel.
BB--Lex Luna (2), Kyla Knott (2), Kayla Lininger, Emma Coulter.
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E L Gervais 0 1 0 0 1 2 2 2 4 Taft 7 3 0 2 – 12 8 1 4
