Canyon High School took on the challenge of keeping Saugus from an undefeated Foothill League run, but came up short as the Centurions won, 2-1.
Coming into the game, Canyon battled Saugus by putting the first run on the scoreboard. In the second inning, Isabella Jimenez doubled to drive in a run. Saugus soon responded during the bottom of the third inning. The Centurions’ Madison Campeau doubled to even the score on the board.
In a total of five innings between the two teams, there were multiple chances for both teams to score and put more runs on the board. Saugus was struggling in the beginning of the contest, but soon came back with a response.
“We were really just trying to change our approach off the bat. We kept popping up. We were just trying to hit it and put the ball on the ground, but my teammates really helped me with cheering and stuff, always pushing me to do better,” said the Centurions’ Kayla Rossello.
Saugus had six hits during the game while Canyon only had three hits.
Centurions pitcher Marina Provencio recorded a total of nine strikeouts and one error against the Cowboys,while Canyon’s pitcher Gaby Wensley logged three strikeouts and one error.
At the bottom of the ninth inning, Saugus was claimed as the victor of the game when Rossello came to the plate and had a walk-off to close out the game against the Cowboys.
“I was just trying to keep it simple, trying to put the bat on the ball and, just get runners on but once I hit the ball on the bat, I knew it was gone. I hit it on that sweet spot of the bat and I just knew right away that it was going and it felt amazing to get the win,” said Rossello.
Some of the players on Saugus went through the most terrible time two years ago and went through the pandemic. Head Coach Amanda Clark could not be happier to see how her team won the Foothill League and to see how the team came together.
“It’s been a rough little three years. They’ve gone through things that you don’t want anybody to go through. And I think it all brought us closer as Centurions as a whole community, Santa Clarita in general, you know, but then it was like COVID right after so it’s like, we had the shooting, and then it was like, Okay, let’s come together. Let’s do this. And then we were forced to isolate. And that was just heart wrenching, right? I mean, we do this because we love the girls. We love the game. So to be forced to isolate away from one another was really hard,” Clark stated.
For the girls, they worked hard during this season to keep the momentum going and fought hard to get the No. 1 seat in the Foothill League.
“My seniors, I have seven. So they’re just playing for the team. And they’re not playing for themselves or their stats. They’re all working together as a team.”
Their next game will be against the Chino Hills Huskies on Thursday, May 5.
