Rams Get One Back From Wildcats

Hailey Fawk slides safely at home.

Story and Photos
By Christian Romo

After a 1-9 start to the season, Temple City has re-emerged, putting together their most impressive win of the season against the second-place Wildcats.

With improved defense and timely hitting, the Rams (5-12, 4-5 Rio Hondo) held off a late rally and beat Monrovia (10-9, 6-3 Rio Hondo), 4-3, Friday afternoon in Temple City. After scoring only one run against Wildcat ace Britney Lopez in their previous matchup, the Rams broke through against Lopez with four runs on six hits, three coming from first-year Elliana Zellien.

“Our bats came through today,” said Zellien, who tied the game with a two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the third inning. “Britney throws a riseball, and past games we kept hitting fly balls, but this game we got them on the ground.” Zellien got her third RBI with a single in the fifth, which junior shortstop Amber Arreola followed with an RBI single of her own, giving the Rams a 4-2 lead. “Lopez did her job, she hit her spots,” said Monrovia coach Marcel Mayorga, “but [Zellien] beat us. She came, she hit, and that’s how they got ahead.”

Arreola (16) and Samantha Diaz watch an errant throw

Temple City first-year Gillian Molina pitched out of several jams, allowing her defense to redeem themselves for earlier errors. With nobody out and runners on first and third in the fourth inning, Molina forced a groundball to Arreola, who froze the runner on third before starting a 6-3-2 double-play. “She should’ve gone on that, I got lucky there,” said Arreola of the runner. Molina praised her team’s improved effort, saying: “Our fielding is so much better, and we have a drive to beat [Monrovia] that we didn’t have before.”

Lopez did everything she could for the Wildcats pitching and at the plate, hitting a two-out RBI double in the top of the seventh, a rally squashed with a groundout to end the game. “Lopez is the drive of the team,” said Mayorga, whose lineup matched Temple City with six hits of their own, “but I think our bats are waking up in time for playoffs.”

Lopez struck out three batters in six innings.

The Rams, meanwhile, have gone 4-3 in their last seven games, solidifying themselves in third place despite graduating eight seniors in the offseason, having no acce

ss to the field in the fall semester, relying on four freshman starters, and suffering a nine-game losing streak early in the season. “They’re learning to finish a game, they’re learning not to get down,” said Rams coach Bob Ellingsworth. Though he’s excited for the future, he holds reasonable expectations for the end of this season: “If we finish strong and get to CIF, and do well in CIF, then it’s a good season.”

His players, however, aren’t so satisfied. “It was just enough,” Arreola said of her team’s performance, “there were a few errors and a few hits that could’ve gone better.” Molina sees room for improvement, saying: “When we get runners in scoring position, we have to get better at moving them around.” Zellien, the key to Temple City’s success, sees only one way to finish the season: “We have three games left, and we have to win out.”