By Justin Vigil-Zuniga
Signal Sports Writer
Week three of Foothill League softball is officially in the books. Saugus is red hot and currently sits on top of the standings. However, the Centurions don’t have a lot of breathing room with Hart and Valencia right behind them.
Here are some of the headlines from week three:
Penberthy has five-home-run week, Hart catches fire
The junior slugger caught fire this week and followed up her three-homer day at Canyon with a pair of home runs against Pasadena on Saturday. The Indians have now won five in a row and will look to carry their momentum in their return home to host Valencia.
“They’ve all hit balls very hard this year,” said Hart head coach Steve Calendo. “In fact, sometimes coaching third base is an adventure.”
Saugus wins eighth in a row behind two shutouts
Senior Alyssa Ramirez would hit yet another home run in the team’s Wednesday win over Valencia, but pitcher Marina Provencio stole the show. The ace shut out the best-hitting team in the league with a one-hitter, leading the Centurions in a season sweep of Valencia.
Ramirez was huge on Tuesday, shutting out the visiting Granada Hills Highlanders. Ramirez threw all seven innings on the mound and struck out nine. The senior also did all the scoring with a two-run home run in the fifth inning.
“Last year wasn’t our big year,” said Ramirez. “But this year we’re going to prove what team we are.”
Saugus is scorching right now and will travel to West Ranch for their first matchup with the Cats on Monday at 3:15 p.m.
West Ranch back on track after 13-2 win over Golden Valley
The Cats needed a win badly after losing three in a row after a 7-5 loss to Hart. West Ranch bounced back to their normal high-scoring ways in their blowout of the Grizzlies.
The team still has five batters hitting over .390, led by junior Krista Viereck with an unreal .590. West Ranch will need the bottom half of the order to get back into a groove if they want to start hitting double digit run numbers again.
The Cats will get their first shot at Saugus and Castaic this week as well as a league rematch with Canyon.
Canyon has up-and-down week
The Cowboys duked it out with Castaic in a great 13-10 win for Canyon. Four girls had multiple hit games with Gabbie Wensley getting the win for the Cowboys. The Canyon bats have proved solid so far this year, but the team would unfortunately be victims of Penberthy’s three-home-run day on Thursday.
Second-year head coach Todd Wensley hopes to get his young Canyon team more fluidity on offense and keep developing their softball IQ.
Canyon will have a tough week, seeing Saugus and West Ranch.
Softball Schedule
Tuesday, March 29
Valencia @ Hart at 3 p.m.
Castaic @ West Ranch at 3 p.m.
Wednesday, March 30 at 3 p.m.
Saugus @ Canyon at 3:15 p.m.
Wednesday, March 30
Paraclete @ Golden Valley at 3:30 p.m.
Thursday, March 31
Canyon @ West Ranch at 3:15 p.m.
Golden Valley @ Castaic at 3:15 p.m.
Saturday, April 2
Simi Valley @ Canyon at 3 p.m.
