Bryan West scored five runs in the fourth inning to take the lead and held off a comeback attempt by Bryan Harvey in a 12-10 softball victory Friday at Harvey.
The victory gave West the Major championship (11-12 girls) in softball play at Weedon Ballpark. Harvey had the tying run at second base in the sixth inning but couldn't score.
When Jessica Almond popped out to first to end the game, the ball bounced briefly out of the glove of Bryan West's Meghan Carpio and then back in.
That was a perfect wrap to a game in which leads were difficult to hold.
Harvey, which took an early 5-1 lead, was still ahead 6-5 after three innings, but West scored five runs on five hits in the fourth. Melanie Savala and Kaitlyn Garcia singled home runs and Sonia Pena closed out the scoring by slicing a two-run single to right.
Alexis Enriquez and Audriana Andrade singled and scored in the inning, and Carpio and Katie Garza each scored runs. That gave West a 10-6 lead, but its rally really started with an outstanding double play in the third inning.
Rebecca Ragusa singled and scored to give Harvey the one-run lead, but its threat ended quickly. Rachel Ullmann was thrown out at first on a comebacker to the mound, and Carpio threw to the plate where catcher Andrade tagged out Elizabeth Greig, who was trying to score from third.
Harvey narrowed the lead to 10-8 with two singles, two runs and two West errors in the fifth frame. Kristen Danford and Ragusa had the hits and runs, backing a three-strikeout performance in the top of the inning by Harvey relief pitcher Paige Kopetsky.
Carpio and Garcia gave West two insurance runs in the top of the sixth. Carpio had a leadoff walk, stole a base and scored on a wild pitch. Daisy Sauseda singled to score Savala and give West a 12-8 advantage.
In Harvey's final chance, catcher Hallie Zimmerman was safe on an error and Danford singled. Zimmerman raced to the plate on a passed ball and Danford scored on Greig's infield single.
West took a short-lived 1-0 lead in the first inning on Marian Supak's leadoff triple. She scored when Zavalla grounded out.
Harvey sent 10 batters to the plate in the first inning, a four-run inning in which five straight batters reached base and West committed two errors. Zimmerman's two-out single plated Rosemary Fazzino, and Allie Browning drove in Alyssa Vega and Zimmerman. Browning had another RBI in the second, driving in Fazzino.
Garcia had the last of four consecutive singles by West in the four-run third inning that featured two-runs singles by Savala and Garcia.