CHINO HILLS — Senior Cambria Salmon has accomplished a lot in her high school career as Beaumont’s star softball pitcher.
Tuesday, she was able to add two more to the list: one individual, and one team.
Salmon reached the 1,000 strikeout plateau and scored the go-ahead run as the Cougars outlasted Ayala 2-0 in 10 innings in a CIF Southern Section Division 2 second round game.
The win puts Beaumont into the quarterfinals for the first time in Salmon’s career. The Cougars will play at Mater Dei Thursday.
“It’s exciting,” the Texas-bound Salmon said. ‘It’s my senior year, my last year I’m going to be able to do this. It feels good, I’m leaving my mark my senior year, doing something we haven’t done before.”
Salmon allowed three hits, three walks and struck out 11, giving her 1,005 for her career. Salmon is the fifth Inland pitcher to record at least 1,000 strikeouts in her career joining Cajon’s Lana Moran (1,394), Corona Santiago’s Taryne Mowatt (1,282) and Kamerin May (1,233) and Calvary Murrieta’s Tory Ferreira (1,102).
“I think my biggest focus this game was to keep the ball on the floor and trust my defense as much as possible,” Salmon said. “Obviously I knew it wasn’t going to be a high-strikeout game. I was expecting (to) get the easy outs, get the ball on the floor, don’t let anything go into the gaps.”
In fact, the Bulldogs hit only one ball into the outfield off of Salmon in the first 8 2 / 3 innings, Ryanna Alano’s single that led off the first inning.
Salmon also started the extra-inning rally against Ayala junior left-hander Allie Lukaszewicsz by reaching on an infield single with one out in the 10th innings.
Jayde Pagdilao followed with an infield single before Keali Huss-Cochran’s single put Beaumont ahead. A single by Jade Valladares loaded the bases before a blooper by Alysha Kendrick turned into a run-scoring fielder’s choice that made it 2-0.
It was a tough end for Lukaszewicsz, who allowed only five hits in the first nine innings before allowing four in the 10th. She struck out five, walked two and hit one batter.
“We were just making adjustments to her pitching, trying not to hit the home run,” Beaumont coach Frankie Fuimaono said of the 10th inning rally. “We had some good at-bats and saw a lot of pitches, and I think that helped us out later on.”
The Cougars got a runner into scoring position in two of the first nine innings. In the second inning, they had runners on second and third with two outs. In the ninth, they had runners on first and third with no outs. But three groundouts kept the game scoreless.
Ayala got a runner to second base in the first, fourth and ninth innings, but never got a runner as far as third base.
“That girl (Salmon) is legit,” Ayala coach John Ameluxen said. “The game plan was not to strike out. She averages two an inning. I thought we put the ball in play, we tried to bunt. With a girl like that, you need a break and we didn’t get one.
“No regrets. Winning league is always the No. 1 goal.”
Ameluxen knows his team will be strong again next year with only two seniors who played in Tuesday’s game graduating.
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Courtesy : https://www.pressenterprise.com/2024/05/07/cambria-salmon-reaches-strikeout-milestone-helps-beaumont-softball-team-outlast-ayala-in-10-innings/