PANTHER JV HOLDS ON IN CLOSE CONTEST
By Marc Atwood
marcatwood@aol.com

(4/17/07 Chico, CA) The Chico junior varsity softball team survived a five-run onslaught from Red Bluff in the top of the seventh inning and took a 9-8 win Tuesday on the Panthers' home field.

The Spartans got the first run of the game in the top of the third inning when Shelby Brohn hit a single that drove in Erica Virgen. They were unable to score any more runs that inning as Kaylia Conrad hit a popup that left the bases loaded.

The Panthers failed to score in the bottom of the third inning as Marisa Donnelly hit into a force in which Breanda Sloan was tagged out at home plate. Megan Uecker ended the inning by hitting into a force in which Megan Barletto was tagged out at home while Carly Lydon and Donnelly were left stranded.

Red Bluff added two more runs in the top of the fourth inning when Jeri Lynn Purcell hit a double that drove in Vanessa Crandell and Kiana Noe. Chico tied the contest at 3-3 in the bottom of the fourth inning on an inside the park home run by Megan Bauer that allowed Shelby Cornell and Rachel Scott to come home. The Panthers went ahead in the bottom of the fifth on Uecker's inside the park home run.

The Spartans lost a scoring opportunity in the top of the sixth inning when Purcell's groundout left Noe and Brohn stranded. Chico then went on a five-run outburst in the bottom of the sixth that began with with a bases loaded walk by Lydon that brought in Paige Eichar. A single by Uecker drove in Sloan, followed by another single by Cornell that allowed Barletto and Lydon to come home. The Panthers wrapped up their scoring on a double by Samantha Smith that brought home Uecker.

Red Bluff started their seventh inning run when Katie Maret scored on a single by Crandell. Later, Kym Perino hit a single that drove in Cassie Chapin, while Perino was sent home on a single by Brohn. A single by Purcell allowed Crandell and Noe to score, but Brohn tried to steal home and was tagged out to end the game.

Bauer went 2-for-3 for Chico with a single and an inside the park home run. Uecker was 2-for-2 with an inside that park home run and a single of her own. Purcell went 2-for-5 for Red Bluff with a single, a double, and four RBI. Perino was 2-for-3 with both of her hits coming on singles. Uecker pitched the entire game for the Panthers, allowing eight hits, striking out two, and walking nine. Maret went the distance for the Spartans, allowing nine hits, striking out four, and walking six.