Krystal Ventura punts the ball away during Thursday night’s action.
Patriots get three-sport sweep of Leopards
Malia Betha fights with a Lady Patriot for control of the ball.
Fancy Bullard tracks down a fly ball in center field.
Eliana Aguilar watches her hit go foul in the third inning of Thursday’s action.
Rylan Godbold sneaks back under the tag after the pickoff attempt in the bottom of the first inning.
Reed Ammons catches the ball and attempts to apply the tag at third base, but is too late.
The Pender Patriots invaded Lakewood High in massive fashion Thursday night, notching big wins in baseball, softball, and women’s soccer against the Leopards, all in dominating fashion. The baseball team won 14-1, softball 13-1, and soccer 6-1, for the trifecta against the Leopards.
Baseball
The first two innings on the baseball diamond Thursday night were heavily in favor of Pender, as the Patriots jumped out to a 14-0 lead quickly, while Lakewood’s Caleb Neal struggled on the mound.
Pender got off to a very hot start, scoring nine runs in the first half of the first inning. The first pitch of the game from Neal resulted in a Patriot hit to left field, with Cooper Ivey grabbing it after it hit the ground. The runner took second on a steal, and ball four for the next batter was a past ball to move the runner to third, while awarding the batter first.
Tyler Tew committed an error out of right field on a hit by the next batter, allowing two Patriot runners to cross the plate and score the game’s first runs. A similar play unfolded, this time at shortstop by Tyler Fye, and more runners advanced in the process. When it was all said and done, Pender grabbed nine total runs in the inning — including three with two outs — to assert themselves in the game early.
Reed Ammons took to the batter’s box first for Lakewood, smacking a line drive that would have cleared most first basemen’s heads, but the 6’7” righty for Pender was there to make the grab. Rylan Godbold and Landon Neal each took a walk, putting runners at first and second for the Leopards, but to no avail, as Fye struck out swinging and Caleb Neal grounded out to complete the first.
The bats were alive once more in the second for Pender, snagging their final five runs, while continuing to keep Lakewood scoreless. Aden Norton sent a solo shot over the fence for Lakewood’s only hit and only run of the night to get the Leopards’ first run of the season, after being held scoreless, 4-0, against Clinton Wednesday night.
Two freshmen took the mound for Lakewood, with Caleb Neal racking up eight hits and 14 runs, with five earned runs, five walks, and three strikes in 1.2 innings pitched. Reed Ammons came in in relief, notching not hits, no runs, and no earned runs while walking one and striking out six in his 3.1 inning performance.
“I liked what I saw from Reed tonight,” head coach Kevin Tanner said after the game. “He came in and shut things down.”
Noting that it’s still early in the season, Tanner also commented on the lack of production offensively from the Leopards. “We didn’t have a scrimmage prior to the season — last night was our first true at-bats. We’ve been taking a lot of BP at practice,” he added.
Softball
Facing a similar score as the boys, the Lakewood softball team looked at a 7-0 deficit in the second inning. Cali Beatty and Fancy Bullard were the lead off batters for the Lady Leps, both being sent down quickly, giving Layla Mihalics her shot at bat. This proved to also be a quick outing, and the hosting Leopards went into the third with the same score as they couldn’t get the bats moving.
Caitlyn Bass resumed her spot on the mound to open the third inning. The first batter of the side sent a fly ball to Bullard in centerfield, which she took with ease. A walk came for the next batter, and Bass battled the next in a 2-1 count before she fired one to Alyssa Faircloth, who stepped on second before firing to Tayler Fye, unable to complete the double play at first. Fye snagged a line drive for the inning’s final out.
Eliana Aguilar was first up in the batting order for Lakewood’s side of the third inning, but a pop fly in the infield sent her down. Summerlyn William was next, and as she faced the 2-2 count, she went for the standing bunt, but was thrown out at first.
Ryleigh Miller sent a shot into right field, a trickling blooper that landed in the shallow outfield over top the second baseman’s head, landing her on first. But, the Leopards couldn’t add to this and the score remained the same.
A blooping shot over the first base bag gave Fye a catch to start the fourth inning, but the next batter was walked to give the Patriots another runner. The next batter faced a full count before Bass walked her to put a runner at first and second with one out. Coach Chris Cashwell called for a timeout to converse with his infield staff, hoping to slow down the offense from the Patriots.
Bullard was there on a centerfield snag for the second inning in a row, which ended as a sac fly to advance the runner to third. Shortly after, a past ball sent the runner home.
Bullard snagged another pop up to close Pender’s side of the fourth at 9-0.
Just one inning later, the Patriots added five more runs, making it a 13-0 lead before Bass notched an RBI on a hit in the bottom frame of the fifth, driving in Ryleigh Miller. The pair had the only hits for Leopards all night, while the Patriots had nine. Lakewood committed five errors to Pender’s three.
Women’s Soccer
After scoring the first goal of the night, the Lady Leopards’ soccer team saw a massive comeback by the Pender Lady Patriots, as they took the 2-1 lead at halftime before securing the 6-1 win in the second half.
A back and forth battle ensued in the second half, with the two teams duking it out at both ends of the field. The teams vied for position, but Pender had the advantage offensively, taking just a bit more time in their offensive zone. Krystal Ventura was holding her own in the goal and stopping multiple shots.
Even with the stout defense, the Leopards couldn’t turn it into offensive production. Multiple opportunities of their own were squandered away by an equally-powered defense from the Patriots.
The tides had stayed in favor of Pender at this point, as the Patriots continued their offensive pressure, but still to no avail. This pressure finally paid off for them as a shot ricocheted off Ventura into the goal to make it a 3-1 game.
Near the 18-minute mark, Isis Salmon exited the game with a leg injury, shortly after another Patriot shot on goal, as the offensive pressure continued. Another Pender shot fell into the left side of the goal with 15:54 to play.
Ventura stopped another shot with 12:21 left to play, but took contact on the stop, pausing the game briefly. The onslaught was on for the Patriots, as the ball hadn’t crossed midfield in several minutes. Another Pender score came just north of 11 minutes, giving the visitors the 5-1 advantage.
Ventura made two diving saves in a row for the Leopards, as they just couldn’t match the offensive pressure they were facing.
With just a few minutes left in the match, the rain and wind started to pick up at Lakewood High, with the Patriots taking the commanding 6-1 lead on a ricochet shot.
A PK for Genesis Venegas came moments later, and as Kaitlynn Martinez tried to corral in the loose ball, she was tripped, giving her the free kick in front of the goal. The Patriot goaltender was there for the stop, keeping the score the same.
The score would go final at 6-1.
Despite the big loss to start the season, head coach Marco Perez was still in high spirits and optimistic after the game, complimenting his team at the beginning of his post-game interview. “Making sure to let them know they’re a lot better than what we saw tonight,” Perez said, on what he was doing to keep spirits high after the tough loss. “They know it. In our practices, they’ve been laughing. There was no laughing today. They forgot about it. They’re just nervous, that’s all. We’ve got a lot of young ones coming up, so we know the nerves are there.”