(Prescott, AZ) The Park University Gilbert softball team had its season come to a close at the California Pacific Conference Championships held at Embry Riddel Aeronautical University this week as they went 1-2 for the double elimination tournament.
The Buccaneers were the No. 4 seed and faced the No. 5 Benedictine Mesa in the first round losing 7-4 which put them in the first elimination game with No. 2 seed Westcliff who had lost to No. 3 Simpson. The Bucs won the game 4-2 to send the Warriors back to Irvine and set up another match with BENU. The Bucs committed five errors en route to falling 4-3 in eight innings and end their season.
The Buccaneers finish the year with a 19-29 record and went 13-10 in conference play.
Game 1 – Benedictine Mesa 7, Park Gilbert 4
The Bucs found themselves down five runs in the third inning on 10 pitches. It started with a home run, followed by an out, two singles a triple, and another single off of Bucs starting pitcher Christian Smith. She was relieved by Abril Nerey who was greeted by an RBI double which made the score 5-0.
The Bucs finally got on the board in the fifth as an Alejandra Castro single and a BENU error plated two runs.
BENU would score solo runs in the sixth and seventh inning, while the Bucs would tack on two more in bottom of the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Bri Jackson and Nerey scored the first run and then a fielder choice later in the inning plated the second.
The Bucs had three players with multi-hit games as Noelle Gumm, Ledezma Romero and Castro all had two hits. Smith took the loss in the circle.
Game 2 – Park Gilbert 4, Westcliff 2
The Buccaneers played Westcliff for the fourth time in the last five games, and won for the third time, beating the Warriors 4-2. Nerey was brilliant again the circle outdueling WU star Emily Rosas by throwing a complete game only allowing one earned run.
The Bucs scored two runs off of Rosas to earn a walk off win the last time these two teams met last week. This time they put a two spot on the board in the first with the help of two Westcliff errors.
The Bucs made it 4-0 in the fifth with RBI singles coming off the bat of Castro and Elisa Cueva.
Westcliff tacked on two unearned runs in the sixth to make it a two-run game but that was all they could muster against Nerey.
Nerey helped her own cause with two hits for the game while Castro and Cueva each had an RBI.
Game 3 – Benedictine Mesa 4, Park Gilbert 3
The Bucs season came to a close with a 4-3 loss to the Redhawks in their next elimination game. Five errors doomed the Bucs as three of the four runs against Nerey were unearned.
After BENU scored an unearned run in the third, Park Gilbert responded in the bottom of the inning with a sacrifice fly by Nerey and an RBI single by Castro.
Benedictine tied it in the fifth with another unearned run. Park took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with their own unearned run.
The Redhawks were able to tie the game in the seventh as a leadoff walk came back to haunt Nerey as the next hitter drove her home the tying run with a double.
This would send the game to extra innings where Benedictine would take the lead for good as another unearned run scored on a throwing error.
Ledezma Romero led the way at the plate with two hits and she also scored a run. Castro and Nerey each had a hit and an RBI.
For the season Noelle Gumm broke the school’s all-time hit record with 58 hits on the season, breaking the previous record of 54 set last year by Danielle Farinas.
Nerey owns the Park pitching record book and added to her already impressive records this season winning 11 more games and finishing with 30 career wins.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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