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BHS softball ends scoring drought

Al Provinziano
Wednesday April 05, 2000

Daily Planet Correspondent 

 

The 2000 season started out as a dry one for Berkeley High softball, when it failed to score any runs in their first two league games. But the Yellowjackets ended this drought on Tuesday at James Kenney Park, scoring their first runs of the year to get by Monte Vista, 9-7. 

The bottom of the second inning turned into a run hurricane for Berkeley, which earned eight of its nine runs in that inning. Amaya Webster got things started with a basehit to right field that scored teammate Joe Warner, and by the end of the inning, the girls had batted around the order and picked up eight runs. The last score found its way home on a line drive to center field by Caitlin Drullus that scored pitcher Lillia Bermeo.  

“We had some big hopes at the beginning of the season,” assistant coach John Bermeo (Lillia’s father) said. “After a couple of losses, our hopes went down – but after today they’ll be up again.” 

Monte Vista coach Mike Lemaster yanked starting pitcher Amy Naylor with two outs in the second, after Berkeley was up six runs. The new pitcher, Whitney Evans, halted Berkeley’s onslaught with a strikeout – but not in time to stop Emily Friedman and Bermeo from coming home to end the inning at 9-2.  

“(Evans) turned things around,” Lemaster said. “I’d like to think that (the team) played bad and it knocked some sense into them. They decided to change and put some energy into the game.” 

After taking a beating in the second, the Mustangs’ energy spurted back in the fourth, as Monte Vista brought home four runners to bring the score to 9-7. Monte Vista’s advance can be at least partially attributed to a struggling defense – shortstop Jasmine Jew allowed three line drives to fly over her head, which let Monte Vista get two runs across. 

“I need some high heels on my shoes,” Jew joked. “I just can’t reach the ball.” 

“I thought we had it locked up,” commented assistant coach Bermeo, during the top of the fifth inning. “Now we’re playing like we’re losing. I think we need to learn how to keep a lead and our energy up, when we’re ahead. All of these things will come in time.”