Criminals rough up Hawks

The Criminals hand no problem banging up the Hawks, but it was Yuma High catcher Jessy Aguirre that walked away with the bruises.

Aguirre was hit by a pitch twice on her way to batting 2-for-3 for the Criminals, which run ruled Gila Ridge after six innings for a 16-6 win.

Aguirre's two-RBI double in the third inning capped a seven-run rally which helped Yuma High put the game away. She finished with three runs.

"I didn't think it was going to go that well. (Gila Ridge) is a good team, I was expecting a close game," she said. "I knew I could hit, but I've been in a slump for a little while. I really want to hit to help my team."

The Criminals got on the board early and often, scoring three in the bottom of the first. With Aguirre on second, Marissa Madrigal hit a double to drive her in. Madrigal finished the day 3-for-4 with five RBIs. She would later reach home on a wild pitch by Gila Ridge's Nikki Kelland.

Kelland had difficulty building confidence during the game. After striking out Yuma High's Larissa Espinoza in the first at-bat she hit three of the next five batters with a pitch.

"Sometimes you don't have your best stuff and when you don't you just find a way and you battle and battle and battle," Gila Ridge coach Jaime McGallard said of her pitcher. "I thought that we had some chances and we couldn't get a big hit when we needed one. Defensively we struggled a little bit today and they capitalized on our mistakes."

But the Criminals committed plenty of mistakes as well. A day after capitalizing on six Kofa errors for a 12-2 win over Kings, Yuma High committed six errors of its own.

It was just enough to let the Hawks back into the contest. At the top of the third inning, Gila Ridge's Sidney Rice hit a double with runners on second and third to clear the bases. That closed the gap for the Hawks, which trailed 3-2.

Rice finished the game 1-for-4.

After the Criminals scored seven runs in the third to go ahead 10-2, Gila Ridge opened up the fourth inning with four scores.

But the Hawks wouldn't cross home plate again and the Criminals tallied runs in each of the following innings to pick up the win.

"It wasn't our best performance by far this year. We had six errors and that's way too many for us to be up there, competing for the region," Yuma High coach Liz Huyck said. "We scored 16 runs, so obviously we did something right. "We're a good hitting team, we really are. I thought we could put them away in four and a half, but we let them play around with us."

Yuma High pitcher Isabel Villalobos picked up the win for the Criminals. She finished the game allowing 10 hits for four earned runs, struck out two and walked three. She faced the minimum twice.

Kelland was credited with the loss after giving up 17 hits for 10 earned runs. She struck out five and walked five.