Hart’s Gabriella Kobliska pitches complete game in rout over West Ranch, plus scores from around the Foothill League
After a big Foothill League win in Hart’s last softball contest against the Castaic Coyotes, the Hawks followed up their performance with a 16-0 win over the Wildcats at West Ranch High School Tuesday.
“We did a lot of things right, and took advantage of a few mistakes,” Hart head coach Steve Calendo said. “But the kids adjusted and Gabriella Kobliska threw one heck of a game.”
Kobliska, who leads the Hawks (13-12, 9-3) in earned run average and strikeouts, had a strong start in Hart’s win over West Ranch (19-8, 9-3).
The junior right-hander opened the game with five perfect innings and carried a no-hitter bid into the bottom of the seventh after an error in the sixth put a Wildcat on base.
After back-to-back hits ended the potential no-no in the seventh inning, Calendo said after the game, he’s still proud of Kobliska’s efforts for a strong outing.
“She was in control the whole game,” Calendo said. “She was in control of everything. And even when she was struggling, she did a heck of a job.”
Kobliska ended the day striking out nine en route to throwing a complete game with two hits allowed. And at the plate, Kobliska had a big day and gave herself run support. She drove in five runs and went 3-for-5 with a double in the win.
Calendo spoke on the Hawks’ offense and said the team had a real turnaround as the Hart lineup faced the exact same two West Ranch pitchers in Gretchen Roen and Juliette Merrilees in a 4-2 loss earlier in the season.
The Hawks ended the day with 16 runs and 21 hits across seven innings of play.
“Same two pitchers that pitched against us last time and we only got two runs,” Calendo said. “We’ve been playing better and our thing is to get better by this point in the season and get to a certain plateau to be your best. And that’s what we’re going to do in the playoffs.”
With the win, the Hawks ended the Foothill League season with an 8-4 record and earned their spot in the California Interscholastic Federation Southern Section playoffs with an automatic qualifier.
Calendo is glad to have their spot in the postseason clinched and is looking to use the win for momentum as he’s looking for a deep run with his Hawks.
“Today’s game will do a lot,” Calendo said in response to how the Hawks will utilize the momentum from the win into CIF. “The way we played at the end of league, we only lost one game in the second half to Saugus, and we played well in the game. So, it’s just going to be a matter of the girls keep doing what they’re doing and keep adjusting to the pitching.”
The loss dropped the Wildcats to 9-3 in Foothill League play but they remained second in the standings.
The Southern Section is set to release its softball playoff pairings on Monday with the brackets scheduled to release at 9 a.m. that will feature who and where teams from the Santa Clarita Valley will play.
After Wednesday’s games, here are scores from around the Santa Clarita Valley.
Castaic 14, Canyon 8: The Castaic Coyotes (9-9, 4-8) ended Foothill League play with a road win over the Canyon Cowboys (8-18, 3-9).
With the win, the Coyotes jumped to fifth in the standings but improved to a .500 overall record for the season and in contention for an at-large playoff berth.
As for Canyon, the Cowboys ended their season in sixth place in the standings with a 3-9 record.
Valencia 19, Golden Valley 0: The Vikings (11-9, 6-5), who lost their previous two games, bounced back with a big road win over the Grizzlies (4-18, 0-12).
With the win, the Vikings solidified their position in fourth in the standings and will earn an automatic qualifier into the postseason.
As for Golden Valley, the loss ended the Grizzlies’ season as they went winless in league play and seventh in the standings.
