No. 10 Canyons Splits Friday Doubleheader, Ramirez Throws a No-No
Cougars defeat No. 5 El Camino 10-0 in five innings, but narrowly fall to No. 9 Fullerton in 7-6 defeat.
The College off the Canyons softball team hosted a triple-header featuring three of the top-ranked teams in Southern California, as No. 5 El Camino College, No. 9 Fullerton College and the No. 10 Cougars battled each other until dusk at Ray Whitten Field on Friday.
Canyons (4-2) split its two games on the day, handily defeating El Camino 10-0 in five innings before narrowly falling to Fullerton in a back-and-forth 7-6 defeat.
However, the highlight of the day was the performance of COC sophomore pitcher Alexis Ramirez, who there a no-hitter against the Warriors while facing the minimum 15 batters.
El Camino (6-5) entered the weekend as the No. 10 ranked team in the state.
Ramirez walked El Camino lead off batter Brigid Antonelli to open the game. The Cougar infield then turned a double-play, and from there its was all Canyons as Ramirez shutdown the Warriors in order the rest of the way. She also recorded three strikeouts for good measure.
COC head coach John Wissmath's lineup was equally impressive, as the Cougars clubbed seven of their 12 hits in the first inning to take a quick 7-0 lead and help put Ramirez at ease.
The scoring started early after Wissmath gave the green light on a double-steal that allowed leadoff hitter Cheyenne Steward to score from third base and giving Canyons a 1-0 lead..
Later in the inning, back-to-back doubles by freshman Sarah Wilson and sophomore co-captain Julianna Carlos each plated two runs for the Cougars, and from there the route was on.
Sophomore Emily Smith and freshman Gabrielle Padilla capped the first inning surge with RBI singles of their own.
In COC's second outing of the day the Cougars had the tables turned on them when Fullerton (3-4) jumped out to an early 5-1 lead through two innings.
Ramirez also started the second game but could not find the pinpoint accuracy that allowed her to dominate the Warriors. This time out the sophomore right-hander surrendered five walks and six runs through six innings.
But the Cougars would not quit. COC scored a run in the third to make a 5-2 affair before eventually timing the game at 5-5 in the bottom half of the fifth when Smith singled to drive in another run.
The game was still tied, this time at 6-6, when Hornet outfielder Desiree Lopez lifted a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring an unearned run and giving Fullerton an insurmountable 7-6 lead.
The Hornets went 2-0 on the day, also defeating El Camino 9-1 in six innings.
