The article below originally appeared on MercuryNews.com and is being reprinted with permission.
College of San Mateo leadoff hitter Raquel Martinez is disruptive on the base paths. The freshman center fielder stole 17 bases in the first 14 games of the season.
But she was more in the mood to trot around the bases Thursday as Martinez smacked a couple of solo home runs in a 4-1 victory at Foothill College.
“Usually she gets on base and she runs, runs, runs,” CSM coach Nicole Borg said. “She’s quick, so for her to hit two out … she has the ability and she does it at practice, but to see it in a game it was pretty awesome.”
Ranked second in the state and No. 1 in Northern California, the Bulldogs (14-1, 2-0 Coast North) never trailed, but it took until the top of the fifth to get on the board.
CSM right-hander Ashlynne Neil, who had faced the minimum number of batters through four shutout innings, stepped up to the plate with one out in the fifth inning and crushed a ball off her counterpart over the 200-foot mark in dead center.
“She got me on the at-bat before with a big whiff swinging on that change-up,” Neil said. “So I sat on it and drove it over center field.”
Two batters later, Martinez made it 2-0 with her first home run of the season, driving a pitch up and out of the strike zone to right field.
“I just really zeroed in, got a little more comfortable and just unleashed,” Martinez said.
Foothill (7-5-1, 1-1) got its first hit in the top of the fourth when Taylor Aguon (Palo Alto) reached on an infield single. But she was thrown out trying to steal second base right away.
“That would have been a game-changer to have that speed at second base in that scenario,” Foothill coach Collin Pregliasco said.
But the Owls cut into the lead after a series of mistakes by CSM.
The rally started when catcher Aaliyah James led off the bottom of the fifth with a double that sailed over the right-fielder’s head and off the fence. James advanced to third on a wild pitch and had the awareness to turn back to third base after a suicide squeeze attempt failed.
“Their catcher is phenomenal,” Borg said. “I wish I had a kid like that for a few years.”
“There’s a reason she bats cleanup, not just because she comes to practice,” Pregliasco said. “She’s a great player. Defensively, though, she’s a stud.”
In the mayhem of the botched squeeze, Foothill’s Veronica Dorsey reached second. With no outs, Denee Lopez hit a sac fly to right field to cut the deficit in half.
But Neil responded by drawing groundouts to second and third to get out without further damage.
“That could have been a turning point in the game if that runner would have scored,” said Neil, who relied on her off-speed offering to keep hitters off balance.
Neil retired the final eight batters she faced and allowed two hits with as many strikeouts and zero walks.
“Neil went a full seven and that was huge for us,” Borg said. “And we made plays behind her.”
CSM collected nine hits, including a home run to center from Martinez with one out in the top of the seventh. The next two hitters, Kayleen Smith and Talisa Fiame, hit back-to-back doubles for another insurance run.
But Foothill avoided the big inning as the Bulldogs stranded nine runners, including the bases loaded in the seventh.
“Offensively, we were just not able to adjust,” Pregliasco said. “Out pitching did great. We’ll give up solo shots and they can hit home runs. They’re a very strong team offensively and they’re very fast and we kept them off the bases.”
Email Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com; follow him at Twitter.com/dailynewsvytas.
College of San Mateo 000 020 2 — 4 9 0
Foothill College 000 010 0 — 1 2 1
Records: CSM 14-1, 2-0 Coast North; Foothill 7-5-1, 1-1
