Solid Softball

Griffins Softball sees double with a pair of 10-5 wins during a Saturday double-header.

Photo by Sharisse Cohee

Pitcher and infielder Lexi Schmehr winds up a strike against the Southewestern College Jaguars during the 2019 season.

Andrew Finley, Staff Writer

Grossmont came into their second game of a Saturday doubleheader with confidence and swagger. Clear skies and a slight breeze made this 68-degree day perfect for softball at Grossmont College. The Griffins faced off against the Vikings of Barstow. 

The early game proved to be quite an intense warm-up game for both teams. The Griffins took the first game by a score of 10-5. Grossmont put together 18 hits and committed two errors to outmatch Barstow’s 10 hits and four errors. Pitching for the Griffins in game two was Charly Shenefield who struggled with control, letting two runners on at the top of the first. The Griffin bats had her back, however, as the first two batters reached base and scored. Lexi Schmehr got the scoring starting off of a Barstow wild pitch and Jasmine Gomez scored off of a fielder’s choice, giving the Griffins a 2-0 lead going into the second inning. 

The Vikings answered back with three runs in the third off of four hits, which gave the Vikings a 3-2 lead. The lead was short-lived as Grossmont answered back in the back half of the inning. Catcher Jessica Medlin had a single through the 5.5 hole, between the shortstop and third baseman, and would come around to score off of a fielder’s choice, tying the game at three runs apiece. 

Shenefield was taken out after three innings of work, striking out one batter while giving up three earned runs off of six hits and three walks. 

Schmehr came in to pitch in the fourth and got herself out of a jam after allowing two runners to get into scoring position. The Griffins replicated that pressure in the bottom half of the fourth, as they got the bases loaded with no outs and capitalized. A single by Gomez moved each runner up, including one to home plate, giving the Griffins a 4-3 lead. The next at-bat, Medlin delivered with a bases-clearing double and eventually reached home off some wild pitches, giving the Griffins insurance in the form of an 8-3 lead heading into the fifth inning.

Neither team would score again until the bottom of the sixth when Medlin doubled home Gomez for her second RBI double of the game. She would reach home from a Rainee Foster single, extending the Griffins lead to 10-3 heading into the last half-inning. 

Barstow scored two more runs in the seventh inning, but Schmehr closed out the game and secured the victory, as the Griffins took the second game 10-5. Schmehr went four strong innings, striking out one while allowing just two runs, one unearned, off four hits and three walks.   

The Griffins look to keep their bats hot when they take on Santa Ana at home on Thursday, Feb. 13