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Saturday, March 17, 2001
Carroll bests Ray, 3-2
Lady Tigers rally to beat Lady Texans
By George Vondracek
Caller-Times
For the moment, control of the District 29-5A softball standings belongs to Carroll High School.
   For the moment. Coach Cay Torres is quick to caution against entertaining thoughts of anything else.
   "You don't count anybody out,'' Torres said moments after the opportunistic Lady Tigers scored twice in the bottom of the sixth inning Friday night to beat Ray, 3-2. "It's exciting for us right now because we're 4-0. But on any given night out here, it's going to be a tossup.
   "Ray played an excellent game. They hit the ball well. King, they beat us in the tournament,'' Torres said, referring to the Bay Area Sports Classic last weekend. "Miller, when we played 'em it was scary for me. I think for the first time since I've been around, CCISD is a very balanced district.''
   But the spoils go to the victor, and the Lady Tigers (4-0, 15-9) proved to be the ones who took advantage of the chances at the Cabaniss Softball Complex. Carroll scored its two runs in the sixth thanks to two errors and a fielder's choice grounder by Betty Madej. That turned reliever Stephanie Gonzalez (14-9) into the winning pitcher and made a hard-luck losing pitcher of Ray's Abigail Velasco (6-5).
   "Everybody's feeling everybody out right now,'' said Ray coach Russell Whitehead, whose Lady Texans slipped to 3-1 in district and 11-6 overall. "All of these teams have a lot of new players. Everybody's maturing a lot. There's a long way to go.''
   Velasco pitched well enough for the victory. She had allowed triples to Kristina Gonzalez to open the first and to Crystal Russell in the fifth. But only Russell scored, on Lori Balerio's sacrifice. Velasco finished with seven strikeouts.
   "Abby's a warrior out there,'' Whitehead said. "She gave it all she had. We made a couple mistakes but she came back and was able to shut them down.''
   Velasco's teammates finally gave her a 1-0 lead in the fifth when Gonzalez entered the game in relief of Renee Gagnon, who was making her second start. Jessica Curiel drew a leadoff walk in the fifth, went to second on a passed ball and to third on Melinda Maldonado's groundout. Curiel then scored on Monica Duque's grounder.
   But the Lady Tigers answered in their half of the fifth when Russell tripled into the right-field corner and scored a pitch later on Balerio's bunt to tie the game at 1. Velasco then struck out the next two hitters.
   "She showed some poise when that girl hit the triple and she went back and got out of it,'' Whitehead said. "We just made some mistakes at the end.''
   Ray appeared to have set the tone on the third pitch of the game when Liz Velasco ripped a triple over Balerio's head in left. Balerio's overthrew third and Velasco attempted to score, appearing to have slid under the tag of first baseman Jenny Ashford, who was covering the plate and took Madej's throw. Whitehead argued the out call.
   "There's no doubt about it,'' Whitehead said about Liz Velasco safely sliding under the tag. "It turned the whole ballgame around.''
   But it didn't turn sour for Ray until the sixth. Still, the Lady Texans got a run back in the seventh on Curiel's flare single to right-center that scored Ashley Salinas. But Gonzalez retired the next two batters for the win.
   "I don't think you can go by the first round of district play,'' Torres said. "We have to take an attitude that anything can happen and we have to capitalize on every opportunity we get.''
   For the moment, the Lady Tigers have.
   District 29-5A
   Carroll 3, Ray 2
   Ray 000 010 1-2 5 2
   Carroll 000 012 x-3 3 0
   Abigail Velasco and Ashley Salinas. Renee Gagnon, Stephanie Gonzalez (5) and Betty Madej. W - Gonzalez (14-9). L - Velasco (6-5). Records - Ray 3-1 district, 11-6 overall; Carroll 4-0, 15-9.
   Highlights - Ray, Liz Velasco 2-3, 3B, 2B; A. Velasco 8Ks; Monica Duque RBI; Jessica Curiel RBI; Carroll, Kristina Gonzalez 3B; Crystal Russell 3B; Lori Balerio RBI; Madej RBI

Staff writer George Vondracek can be reached at 886-3731 or by e-mail at vondracekg@caller.com

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