Announcement
This story first appeared
March 29, 2012
HS Gametime, Press Enterprise
By Matt Jocks
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BEAUMONT — For three at-bats, Alyssa Fuimaono had no answer for Hemet pitcher Cheyenne Gandara. In one instant, it didn’t matter. Fuimaono drilled the first pitch she saw in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday for a two-run home run, lifting Beaumont to a 4-2 victory and sole possession of first place in the Mountain Pass League. "I talked to one of my coaches in travel ball," Fuimaono said. "And he gave me a metaphor. He said if you keep running into a sliding glass door, you’ve got to make sure the door is open the next time." Fuimaono, the cleanup hitter for Beaumont (13-3, 5-0 in league), struck out on three pitches in each of her first two at-bats against Gandara and then grounded out in the fifth. In the seventh,
Stephanie Tickemyer, who also had struck out twice, drew a walk and was bunted to second by Kaylee Gemmell. With two outs, Hemet (8-7, 4-1) elected to go after Fuimaono, and she delivered the ball to the top of a storage shed beyond center field. "Alyssa told Stephanie before that inning that, if Stephanie got on, she’d bring her home," Beaumont coach Jim Tickemyer. Fuimaono’s blast finished a tense battle between teams that dominated the first round of Mountain Pass play. Gandara got in the first loud word in her duel with Fuimaono when she hammered a home run to right-center to open the fourth inning. However, Beaumont answered almost immediately when Kelsey Dodson drew a hard-earned walk in the bottom of the fourth and second baseman Alainah Ortiz drilled a triple to right-center. Ortiz, who had three hits, scored on Bernadette Moreno’s fly to center. After allowing the homer to Gandara, Fuimaono settled in, retiring seven consecutive batters before hitting trouble in the top of the sixth. She allowed a one-out infield single to Taylor Vanzee and then pitched around Gandara. Ivy Campbell foiled that strategy by doubling home Vanzee to tie the game. Hemet might have had more, but Beaumont third baseman Krista Valdivia perfectly executed Autumn Davis’ safety squeeze, keeping courtesy runner Samantha Warner at third and getting the out at first. Fuimaono then retired Kassandra Hernandez to end the threat. "We had the same situation earlier and made a bad decision so we’ve been working on it," Coach Tickemyer said. "It’s nice to see us take that to the field." Fuimaono finished with a four-hitter, striking out four and walking two. Gandara allowed eight hits, struck out nine and walked two.
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