PANTHER JV TAKES DOWN TIGERS
By Marc Atwood
marcatwood@aol.com
 
(4/8/08 Chico, CA) The Chico junior varsity softball team broke through with eight runs in the fourth inning as they took a 13-7 win over Oroville Tuesday at the Panthers' home field.
 
The Tigers opened up the scoring in the top of the first inning when Catie Iverson came home during Chelsea Sperling's at bat. Sperling and Sam Johnson added two more runs when Johnson hit a home run. Oroville took a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Paige Ielati came home on a groundout by Linda Rowlinson. Another run was added when Katelynn Milligan hit an inside the park home run.
 
The Panthers got their first runs in the bottom of the second when Megan Uecker hit a triple that brought in Savannah Stoner and Marissa Weeber. Chico made a pitching change in the top of the third inning with Mackenzie Forland taking over for Stoner. Forland went on to retire the next eight Tiger batters before Sperling reached base on an error in the top of the fifth inning.
 
The Panthers tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the third inning, starting with a single by Weeber that drove in Alicia Salas. Breanda Sloan followed it up by hitting an inside the park home run that also allowed Weeber to score. Chico took its first lead of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning when Sarah Butterfield scored on a single by Nicole Weeber. A double by Marissa Weeber allowed Salas and Ashyla Roe to come home.
 
Next to score for the Panthers in the fourth was Nicole Weeber, who was brought in on a base hit by Sloan. Marissa Weeber came home on a wild pitch during Forland's at bat. Chico extended its lead to 12-5 when Sloan and Nikki Hurlow crossed home plate on a double by Forland. The last run of the inning for the Panthers was scored by Forland, who made it home on a single by Butterfield.
 
Oroville scored a run in the top of the sixth inning when Jessica Findlay came home on a wild pitch during Rowlinson's at bat. Another Tiger run came in the top of the seventh inning when Sperling's groundout allowed Milligan to score.
 
Salas went 3-for-5 for the Panthers with all of her hits coming on singles, She also scored twice. Marissa Weeber was 2-for-3 with a single, a double, reached base on an error, and scored three times. Milligan went 2-for-4 for the Tigers with a single, an inside the park home run, and scored twice, while Brittany Soli was 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.