The Santa Maria softball team racked up its first win of the season in convincing fashion Thursday.
Santa Maria (1-2) beat Valley Christian 10-0 in five innings in a non-league game at Santa Maria. The game was called after five because of the 10-run rule.
Sonora Glidewell pitched a two-hit complete game for Santa Maria. Glidewell struck out nine and walked two.
Brianna Hill went 3-for-3 with a single and a double and drove in three runs for the Saints. Phoebe Becerra went 2-for-4 with a single and a double and scored three runs for Santa Maria.
Dos Pueblos 4, Righetti 0
The Chargers (6-3) blanked the Warriors (0-3) in a non-league game at Righetti.
Arroyo Grande 6, Santa Ynez 3
Lance Willkomm, Levi Pick and Lucas Lehman all won in straight sets, and Casey Eleberg won at No. 6 to boost the Eagles to a win over the Pirates at Santa Ynez.
Pick and Lehman also teamed for a win to give Arroyo Grande its doubles point.
Bryce Wilczak and Lucas Doman both won their singles matches then teamed for a doubles win for the Pirates. Tyler Rose won in straight sets at No. 5 singles for Santa Ynez.
The Pirates swept Mission Prep 3-0 in a league match Tuesday then were swept by Dos Pueblos 3-0 in a non-league match Thursday.
Gianna Pecile and Kaki Allen won 21-19, 21-13 in the No. 1 pairs match, Cailin Glover and Hannah Allen won 21-11, 21-11 at No. 2, and Sadie Leishman and Helina Pecile won 21-7, 21-11 at No. 3.
Truax reaches quarterfinals
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Cal Poly's Bernie Truax reached the quarterfinal round of the 2023 NCAA Division 1 Wrestling Championships Thursday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Truax won his first two matches at 197 pounds. Teammate Dom Demas stayed alive in the wrestlebacks at 149.
The other three Mustangs at the NCAA tourney, Antonio Lorenzo at 125 pounds, Ethan Rotondo at 133 and Trevor Tinker at 285, were eliminated.
Truax (15-1 on the year) is seeded No. 2 at 197. He scored an 8-0 major decision over Austin Cooley of West Virginia then earned an 8-2 decision over Luke Surber of Oklahoma State. At press time, Truax was to face Tanner Sloan (25-2) of South Dakota State in a Friday morning quarterfinal match.
Demas scored an 18-3 technical foul over Isaiah Delgado of Utah Valley at the 6:48 mark then lost 6-1 to top-ranked and three-time national champion Yianni Diakomihalis of Cornell. Demas rebounded to earn an 8-2 decision over Quinn Kinner of Rider.
At press time, Demas (13-7) was to face Colin Realbuto of Northern Iowa (20-7) in the second round of wrestlebacks Friday.
Lorenzo lost by a 9-4 decision to LIam Cronin of Nebraska then by a 4-0 decision to Tanner Jordan of South Dakota. Rotondo was decisioned 12-6 by top seed and three-time national champion Vito Arujau of Cornell, rebounded with a 7-2 decision over McGwire Midkiff of North Dakota State but was pinned by Dominic Zaccone of Campbell at the 6:40 mark.
Wyatt Hendrickson of Air Force pinned Tinker at 1:54. Josh Heindselman of Oklahoma then defeated Tinker by a 14-6 major decision.
After seeing Cuesta College score a combined 25 runs in a Cougars sweep of a three-game series the week prior, Hancock needed a strong pitching performance Thursday.
The Bulldogs got one. Starter Anthony Lopez gave up one run on six hits in eight innings, reliever Lucas Earle finished with a one-run ninth and Hancock beat Oxnard 6-2 in a Western State Conference North Division game at Hancock's John Osborne Field.
Lopez is 1-0. Oxnard starter Aaron Alvarado (3-1) took the loss. Alvarado gave up five runs on 10 hits in his six innings on the mound.
Hancock moved to 12-8, 6-3. Oxnard is 5-15, 1-6. At press time Friday, Hancock held a 6-2 lead over Oxnard in the seventh inning behind Cooper Bagby's strong pitching performance.
Righetti High School graduate Gavin Long, back in the leadoff spot after being moved down in the Hancock batting order for a time, had two hits for the Bulldogs and scored two runs. Luke Wenzel went 3-for-4 with two doubles and drove in two runs. Brayan Nunez tripled in two runs for the Bulldogs in a four-run seventh that staked Hancock to a 6-0 lead.
Elijah Pascual had two hits in Hancock's eight-hit attack. Anthony Alvarez had three hits for Oxnad, and Anthony Garcia had two.
Oxnard scored on a Danny Lucero sacrifice fly in the eighth inning and a triple by pinch hitter Tommy English in the ninth.
Kenny Cress is a sports reporter for the Santa Maria Times, covering local sports in northern Santa Barbara County. You can send information or story ideas to him by emailing it to KCress@SantaMariaTimes.com.
