End of the Road

BAKERSFIELD — After its draining collapse against Monache in the regular-season finale, the Porterville softball team made the trip south.

The Division III Valley quarterfinal game started off with the No. 7 Panthers (11-13-1, 6-6 EYL) eyeing an upset over No. 2 Ridgeview (18-8-1).

Wolf Pack pitcher Carly Hummel abruptly altered those aspirations.

“It was kind of a blur,” senior second baseman Lane Johnson said. “You’d see the ball in her hand, then it’s in the catcher’s glove.” 

Following Hummel’s 12 strikeouts in five innings, Porterville ended the game with a quest to avoid shutouts in two columns.

Katelyn Ogas got their lone hit in the seventh inning but it was far too late, as Ridgeview pounded the Panthers 7-0.

Hummel, who is headed to Memphis University, exited with a no-hitter after the fifth inning. It was three innings after she was supposed to leave the game, but Ridgeview coach Jerry Dumatrait could see what everyone in the park could: The Panthers were nearly helpless against his top hurler.

“He originally told me that he was only gonna pitch her two innings but once he figured out she was mowing through us, I think he just went with it and let her go,” Porterville coach Lance Wallace said. “That’s what happens when you play against a Division-I talent.”

Hummel hit Johnson in the first inning and the senior Panther made her way to third base on two passed balls. Hummel fanned Ogas to end the inning, stranding Johnson on third. No Panther would get to third again for six innings.

The Wolf Pack didn’t have that problem. They plated four runs on four hits off the usually solid Tanaya Williams. Two misplays and three consecutive hits put Porterville in a deep hole early.

“It was hard after that game against Monache to come back and practice for three days after such a heartbreaking defeat,” Wallace said. “I think we were sloppy today. There’s no doubt about it.”

Wallace pulled his ace pitcher after that frame and put junior Megan Pengilly on the mound. He said he nearly used his usual first baseman on the mound from the start because Ridgeview sees pitchers like Williams far more often than ones like Pengilly.

“They got a dozen Tanayas down here in Bakersfield and that’s what they see every day,” he said. “You come down here to these teams and they’re up for fast pitching. That’s all they face, so that’s what they’re geared up for. Sometimes they’re not geared up for the slower pitcher with the movement on the ball. 

“But bottom line, you gotta score runs to win games. We could’ve had Megan Pengilly allow one run and we still would’ve lost.”

Pengilly struck out seven Ridgeview batters in her four innings of work. She gave up mammoth foul balls but aside from Nisa Ontiveros following a foul-ball blast off the roof of the school with a two-run homer to left, Pengilly’s pitches flummoxed the Wolf Pack.

“Everybody’s oohing and aahing but all they are are strikes,” Wallace said. “Seven strikeouts in four innings. That’s a real good building block for her next year. Right now, she’s in line to be our No. 1 next year and for her to go out and do what she did (was impressive).”

Hummel only got stronger as the game went on, whiffing five straight in the third and fourth innings and eight of nine batters during a stretch, mostly with high fastballs.

Johnson, Williams and Stevee Thomas will each attend Porterville College next season with Williams and Thomas signing up for Dave Kavern’s basketball squad.

Wallace defined this season by what could have been instead of what was.

“Our girls’ basketball team went so long, we’re seven games into our season before we even get those girls back,” he said. “Looking back on this, I think it was a season of missed opportunites for us. And I hate to keep alluding to it but that Monache debacle that we had really set us back. I think we host a game maybe and I know we’re not playing Ridgeview.”