SPARTANS COME ROARING BACK FOR WIN
By Marc Atwood
marcatwood@aol.com
 
(4/4/08 Chico, CA)  The Red Bluff varsity softball team scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to defeat Pleasant Valley 6-5 in an Eastern Athletic League game played Friday at Hooker Oak Field.
 
The Vikings opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning when Kiley Mansfield's double to left field allowed Erica Wieck to come home. Next to score was Ariel Manicci, who put PV up 2-0 when she was driven in by Riley Hitchcock. A passed ball strikeout by Elle Troudy brought home Mansfield. Emma Limburg's single allowed Hitchcock to cap off the Vikings' opening inning scoring.
 
Pleasant Valley was unable to score in the bottom of the second inning as a groundout Hitchcock left Manicci and Mansfield stranded. The Spartans got their first baserunner in the top of the fourth inning when Emily McEnaney hit a single. She and Aubree Boone would score on a single by Kayla McConnell. A bases loaded walk by Amanda Brown enabled McConnell to come home, while the next batter, Jerilyn Purcell, was also walked to drive in Jessica Jacobs as Red Bluff tied the contest at 4-4.
 
After the game was tied, Wieck took over the pitching from Mansfield and went on to retire seven of eight batters, giving up only a walk to McConnell in the fifth inning. The Spartans took a 5-4 lead in the top of the sixth inning when McEnaney's single allowed Purcell to score. Meanwhile, Red Bluff's McConnell retired 11 consecutive Viking hitters until she walked Troudy in the bottom of the sixth. She was left stranded at third base as Ciara Flau's groundout ended the inning.
 
The Spartans added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning when Boone scored as Jacobs reached first base on an error. Wieck brought PV within a run in the bottom of the seventh inning on a inside the park home run. They were unable to get another run across as the game ended on a groundout by Troudy that left Kiley and Kelsey Mansfield stranded.
 
McEnaney went 2-for-4 for Red Bluff with a pair of singles, an RBI, and scored once. Boone was 1-for-3 with a single, a walk, and scored twice. Wieck went 2-for-4 for Pleasant Valley with a triple, an inside the park home run, and scored twice. Kiley Mansfield was 2-for-3 with a double, a single, and RBI, and scored once.
 
McConnell pitched the entire game for the Spartans, allowing seven hits, striking out six, and walking two. Kiley Mansfield pitched three-plus innings for the Vikings, allowing four runs, three hits, striking out two, and walking four. Wieck pitched the remaining four innings, allowing two hits, striking out eight, and walking two