But, unlike in the past two years, when the Cougars needed to win to earn an automatic bid to the playoffs, one win this week could give them at least a share of their first Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division title since 2001.
Half Moon Bay was scheduled to host Carlmont Tuesday. Results of the game were not available at press time. If Half Moon Bay won, the title belongs to the Cougars. But if Carlmont won, and the two teams win their respective Thursday games, the two will share the league title. Half Moon Bay hosts cellar dweller El Camino while Carlmont plays at Burlingame.
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“In this league, every pitch, every at bat and every inning matters,” pitcher Leah Garcia said. “We can’t take anyone lightly. We can’t take El Camino lightly.”
The Cougars kept their league title hopes alive last week with two different one-run wins. The Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on to beat Aragon, 6-5, Thursday. The Dons, trailing 6-3 heading into the seventh, scored twice and had the bases loaded with one out before Garcia ended the game by getting a foul out to third baseman Miranda Holeton and a strikeout.
Two days earlier, the Cougars rallied three times to tie Mills. Finally in the seventh, the Cougars took the lead on Jerika Barron’s sacrifice fly. That was the winning run in Half Moon Bay’s 6-5 win.
“I’d like to beat up on some teams,” catcher Regina Sena said. “But these type of games are making us stronger.”
Six of Half Moon Bay’s league wins are by one run. The Cougars did beat Capuchino by two on April 22. The Mustangs had the tying runs on base with one out in the seventh.
“Nothing comes easy for us,” Sena said. “I’m amazed we are able to hold up in those one-run games.”
Half Moon Bay took advantage of Aragon mistakes in the first inning to score four runs. The Cougars added two more in the fourth and seemed on their way to comfortable win. Aragon scored three runs in the fifth and the game was still doubt.
“We got ahead of ourselves,” Callie Pacheco said. “We started to relax. We have to stay intense the whole time.”
The intensity picked up in the seventh inning when Aragon made its move.
“I breathed a sigh of relief when we got the final out,” Sena said.
Garcia knows that when the league ends Thursday, and the league champ, or co-champ, is determined one thing is certain.
“Whoever wins it will have earned it,” Garcia said.
The frosh-soph won both of its games last week. Half Moon Bay defeated Mills, 13-3, on April 29. Danielle Santiago and Kelsey Moore each had two hits and three RBIs.
Laura Action, McKenna Jones and Kelsey Laffen each added a hit and drove in a run. Emma Francis also singled. Melissa Kalkin, Megan Larrett and Haley Nazar drove in runs.
Two days later, Jones struck out seven and had four hits as the Cougars beat Aragon, 8-3. Laffen, Santiago, Moore, Larrett and Francis all got hits.
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