FORESTVILLE >> Ashlynn Mock and Destiny Apodaca combined on a one-hitter Tuesday afternoon in Forestville as the Lower Lake Trojans shut out the El Molino Lions 16-0 in a non-league softball game called after five innings because of the 10-run mercy rule.
Mock worked three hitless innings for the victory, striking out three and walking two. Apodaca, who normally starts behind the plate for the Trojans, made her high school pitching debut and allowed just one hit over the final two innings, a perfectly placed bunt single up the third base line to open the bottom of the fifth.
“She came in and threw strikes,” Lower Lake coach Chris Emberson said of Apodaca.
Lower Lake (2-2) broke open a scoreless game with an eight-run second inning and continued to add to its lead with two runs in the third, five more in the fourth and one in the fifth.
The Trojans hit the ball up and down the lineup and finished with 12 hits. Kristen Celli went 2-for-5 with four RBIs and Adrianna Illia went 1-for-2 with four RBIs, including a two-run double. Another bright spot was freshman Mikelynn Rowe, who moved from center field to catcher when Apodaca came in to pitch.
“She’s willing to learn and she hits the ball hard,” Emberson said of Rowe, who went 2-for-2 with three RBIs. “She gives me versatility between playing the outfield and being our backup catcher. She would start for most of the teams in our league at catcher.”
Mock and Azuree Meza also finished with two hits apiece as Lower Lake snapped a two-game losing streak.
Lower Lake’s defense, which did not commit an error, threw out a runner at the plate in the bottom of the fifth when Apodaca fielded a grounder and fired a bullet to Rowe, who applied the tag on what Emberson described as a “bang-bang play.”
Lower Lake is on the road again Thursday to play Piner in Santa Rosa at 4 p.m. The Trojans return to Santa Rosa on Saturday for a 10 a.m. game against Santa Rosa High School.
