The article below originally appeared in the San Mateo Daily Journal and is being reprinted with permission.
Nathan Mollat / Daily Journal. CSM’s Ashley Rincon puts down a bunt that drove in the first run of the Bulldogs’ 4-0 win over De Anza.
College of San Mateo softball player Ashley Rincon is in a groove right now.
After not seeing any action at the plate through the Bulldogs’ first 11 games, Rincon, a former Sequoia standout, has seven at-bats in the last three games.
In those seven at-bats, Rincon has collected four hits, including the game-winning bunt in the Bulldogs’ 4-0 win over De Anza in the Coast Conference-North opener Tuesday in San Mateo.
“Ashley’s a gamer,” said CSM coach Nicole Borg. “She wills herself to get things done.”
Rincon, normally a pitcher, was forced into outfield duty in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the inning, Rincon came to the plate with runners on second and third with one out. On the first pitch, Rincon attempted a bunt — it went foul.
With the count at 2-1, Rincon, again, squared around to bunt. This time, it was perfect. The De Anza pitcher fielded the ball and attempted to throw out CSM’s Sammy Pacheco at the plate. Pacheco was safe, the throw was wide, allowing Vika Kafoa to score from second. Rincon went to second on the play and immediately clapped emphatically and pumped her fist.
“When she (coach Borg) gives you a sign and you don’t get it done, you keep trying until you do get it done,” Rincon said of Borg’s decision to go for the safety squeeze bunt.
While Rincon may lack at-bats, she is certainly not lacking in the confidence department.
“I love to play. You put me anywhere and I’m happy,” Rincon said. “I practice every day. (I do whatever) the job I have to do that day.”
Rincon’s bunt was the second in a string of four in a row in the bottom of the fifth as the Bulldogs went on to score three runs in the inning. Rincon went to third on Annabel Hertz’s sacrifice bunt and she scored on Alyssa Jepsen’s single for a 3-0.
CSM (1-0 Coast Conference, 9-5 overall) managed only one hit through the first four innings against De Anza starter Justine Roscoe, the former Aragon standout the last two years.
Considering the Bulldogs were struggling to put the ball in play, Borg resorted to small ball to get the job done.
“I’d bunt seven times in a row if I have to. I’ve done it,” Borg said. “It’s all about putting the ball in play and make them (the defense) make a play.”
De Anza struggled when the Bulldogs did put the ball in play, committing four errors. Of CSM’s four runs, only one was earned.
The Bulldogs tacked on an insurance run in the sixth when Lindsay Handy singled and went to third when the ball rolled through the center fielder’s legs to the wall in straight-away center field. Handy scored on a Sammy Pacheco single to left.
The run support was enough to make a winner of CSM pitcher Callie Pacheco, who came on in relief of starter Jepsen in the third inning. Jepsen wobbled through two innings of work. She gave up two hits and three walks and loaded the bases in both innings. But she made the pitches when she had to to get out of those innings unscathed.
Callie Pacheco came in and was nearly unhittable. She allowed a double to the first batter she faced, but the Dons did not get another hit the rest of the game. Callie Pacheco pitched five innings, allowing one hit while striking out five.
“We played good defensively and Callie pitched five great innings,” is how Borg summed up Tuesday’s win. “Conference games: you have to win (them).”
