In the Wildcats’ season opener, West Ranch fell behind in the first inning after the Harvard-Westlake Wolverines of Studio City scored two runs to take a 2-0 lead.
But after the Wildcats scored six runs in the third inning, highlighted by a Juliette Merrilees’ two-run single, West Ranch came away with the 11-5 win by the end to secure the victory over the Wolverines on Thursday.
“In the first inning, there was some nerves, which doesn’t make it easy for our starting pitcher,” West Ranch head coach Michael Merrilees said. “Once we settled in and kind of played our brand of softball, I think we were good.”
Going into the bottom of the first inning, the Wildcats were behind 2-0 after West Ranch starting pitcher Gretchen Roen allowed two runs and four hits.
But in the second and third innings, the Wildcats’ offense looked poised to come back.
Following an Ava Esparza sacrifice fly in the second inning that brought in Juliette Merrilees to tie the game at 2 apiece, the Wildcats batted around following back-to-back walks from Kara Carns and Paige Arrington that led to six runs in the third inning.
“The middle to the lower part of our order provided us run production, and we know top to bottom, we can score with the best of [Harvard-Westlake],” said coach Merrilees.
Juliette Merrilees, who’s a freshman, added two runs of her own in the third following a single and ran across the plate to score after another Esparza sacrifice fly. Juliette Merrilees ended the day going 3-for-4 at the plate and brought in 3 RBIs.
After the game, coach Merrilees said he’s proud of his daughter’s performance and added that Juliette did all the right things at the plate, such as finding gaps in the Wolverines’ offense.
“She hit the ball, found gaps, found holes and hit the ball hard. And wasn’t trying to do too much. It’s a good performance,” he said.
Roen, who started the game for the Wildcats, ended the day with five innings pitched and allowed five runs. She was relieved in the sixth inning by Juliette Merrilees, who closed the game out and ended the day with two innings pitched and one strikeout.
“Gretchen Roen carried a workload for us last year and pretty much being our only pitcher,” coach Merrilees said. “So, for Juliette to come and kind off hand off the baton after a gem that Gretchen pitched, really helped us.”
In total, the Wildcats’ offense recorded 10 hits en route to the victory.
With the win, the Wildcats began the season 1-0 and look to continue their momentum into the Hart tournament, set to be held throughout the weekend at Central Park.
“It was a big game, a big win for us to start off strong,” coach Merrilees said. “We’re looking forward to the weekend.”
The Wildcats play again on Saturday in the first round of the Hart tournament against the Highland Bulldogs of Palmdale with first pitch set for 11 a.m.
