By Jesse Muñoz/COC Sports Information Director

College of the Canyons freshman Memorie Muñoz gathered an overthrown ball at third base and immediately threw to catcher Lisa Motz for a bang-bang play at home plate that simultaneously prevented the Barstow tying run from scoring and completed a doubleheader sweep, good for the Cougars’ women’s softball first two wins of the young season.

Canyons (2-3-1) made short work of the visiting Vikings (5-4) in the opener, taking a 8-0 victory that was called after five innings. The win was the first of the year for COC and snapped a four-game win streak for Barstow.

The Cougars came back to win by a 3-2 final score in the second contest.

Allyson Melgar (2-1) collected wins in both games with seven strikeouts and two walks in a combined seven and 1/3 shutout innings of work. She allowed just one hit in the first game and was key in stopping a final Barstow attack during her relief appearance.

Melgar combined with game two starter Samantha Flores to hold the Vikings to just two runs on seven hits across the two games.

The Cougar lineup came away with 17 hits on the day, including six extra base hits, and swiped four bags.

Game 1 (8-0 Canyons victory)

Canyons pushed across three runs in each of the first two innings to pounce on the Vikings.

Brianne Tall drove home the first run before Valerie Ramirez cleared the bases on a two-run triple later in the first inning.

In the second Ashlyn Heck and Julia Fuentes accomplished the same feat, with Heck’s RBI-single putting the score at 4-0 and Fuentes’ triple tacking on another run for a quick 5-0 Cougar lead.

Motz doubled home a run in the fourth and Fuentes added an RBI groundout for the final Canyons run at 8-0.

Top Performers

Lisa Motz 2-for-2, double, BB, SB, 2 runs, RBI
Ashlynn Heck 1-for-3, SB, 2 runs, RBI
Julia Fuentes 1-for-3, triple, run, 2 RBI
Valery Ramirez 1-for-2, triple, 2 RBI
Allyson Melgar 1-for-2, double, BB, run, RBI; W, 5 Ks, 2BB

Game 2 (3-2 Canyons victory)

Barstow got on the board first on an RBI double that gave the Vikings a temporary 1-0 lead.

Canyons answered right back in the bottom of the inning when Fuentes singled to right field bringing Motz home and tieing the game at 1-1.

In the second it was Motz’ RBI base hit that drove home Muñoz and put Canyons back on top at 2-1.

The two teams exchanged runs again in the fifth with the Vikings tying the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth before Sabrina Englebrecht put her squad back on top with an RBI base hit that plated Tall.

The Vikings came close to extending the game when Kiyaira Hicks reached base on a two-out single, then stole second to initiate a sequence that ended with Motz tagging Hicks at the plate to end the game.

Top Performers
Lisa Motz 2-for-3, double, BB, SB, run, RBI
Allyson Melgar 1-for-3, double, BB, run, RBI; W, 2 Ks
Samantha Flores 4 2/3 innings, 1 ER, 2 Ks
Julia Fuentes 1-for-4, RBI
Valery Ramirez 1-for-2, BB

Canyons will welcome Santa Barbara City College for a home doubleheader on Tuesday Feb. 22, with games scheduled for 12 and 2 p.m.

The Cougars will then host El Camino and Cypress for a doubleheader on Saturday, Feb. 26 with games scheduled for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively. El Camino and Cypress will also square off during the middle game.

COC softball home games will be live streamed to fans on YouTube via the Cougars Sports Network. Continue to monitor COC Athletics for livestream links and schedules or subscribe to the COC Athletics channel on YouTube.

Stay up to date on all this season’s action by following the College of the Canyons Athletic department here.

Photo by Kyle Kawamoto/COC Sports Information