One minute the Century Diamondbacks were on the verge of dispatching Burley in the fifth inning, the next they were just hoping to hold on for a win.
Century scored nine runs in the first five innings against the Bobcats and had the winning run on third base only to see the visitors rally for seven straight in the final two frames. A pair of errors, a walk and some timely hitting allowed Burley to make a comeback.
But the Diamondbacks prevailed 9-7 on pitcher Kayla Yeates’ ninth strike out of the game to take the first contest of a doubleheader Monday afternoon at Century High School.
“We still have mistakes that give other teams runs,” Century head coach Jay Ferguson said. “We have to cut that out. If this was a district game... that’s how you lose games.”
The Diamondbacks scored a pair of runs in both the first and second innings. Yeates had a single and a double during that time to help spark her team to the early lead.
She then took the mound and retired 18 of the first 22 batters she faced.
Also helping Century’s cause were Rian Rawlings and Savannah Wells. Rawlings finished the game 3-for-3 at the plate with a trio of singles, a walk and two RBI. Wells smashed a three-run home run over the center field wall in the fifth.
“We’re doing pretty well,” Ferguson said about his team’s offense. “We still left chances out there. Those are mental mistakes. We’re making them offensively and defensively, and they bite you in the butt. They cost us last week against Bonneville.”
Ferguson was referring to the Diamondbacks leaving nine runners stranded on base and seeing four more either get caught stealing or get tagged out trying to gain extra bases.
Despite being down 9-0 with just two innings to play, the Bobcats rallied. A triple from Burley catcher Nicole Williams in the sixth got it started.
“(Yeates) started missing some spots there and we had one mental error that kept the inning going,” Ferguson said. “All the sudden they get runs out of it.”
Burley, after only recording two hits in the first five stanzas, exploded for four in the sixth inning alone. An error on a bad throw also allowed a pair of runs to score.
“A mental error isn’t necessarily an error and it might now go down in the book sometimes, but those are what give other teams runs,” Ferguson said. “We still have to get better with that.”
Burley scored four runs in the sixth and three in the seventh. Yeates finally got Kirsten Luna to strike out looking, and the game was over.
“She was doing that. She was being consistent, and then had to work more in that sixth inning,” Ferguson said of his pitcher. “She had a walk involved and got a bit more wild, but she’s a good pitcher.
“We have to play our game offensively and defensively, then we’re OK.”
In the second game, Burley scored four runs in the sixth inning to take a 4-3 lead. But Century responded with six of its own in the bottom half of the inning and prevailed 9-4 for the doubleheader sweep.
Wells was the hero as her three-run double in the sixth was more than enough to put the Diamondbacks on top.
Rawlings had two doubles and an RBI in the win while Murillo and Jaime Miller had doubles as well. Murillo added four RBI.
Century (7-4, 1-1 4A Fifth-Sixth District) returns to league play Thursday when it hosts Preston for a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m.