TAFT – Starting pitcher Emma Silva scattered five hits and allowed one run while Arianna Forthman smacked a home run to help lead Taft College to its third straight win, a 6-1 Central Valley Conference victory over visiting Reedley College on Thursday.
This came just two days after the Cougars swept a CVC doubleheader from Porterville College on Tuesday. TC edged the Pirates 1-0 in the opener and closed out the afternoon with an 8-2 victory.
After a shaky opening inning, Silva settled down to keep the Tigers off the board. Reedley scored first, getting its lone run in the top of the first. A leadoff single, passed ball, another base hit, and a double steal of second and home led to the Tigers' run.
But Silva allowed just two hits the rest of the contest as she struck out four and walked one on her way to the complete game.
Taft got the run back in the bottom of the first, as Hailee Danneker's RBI single scored Alicia Pompa.
The Cougars added two runs in the third. Anne Procell hit an RBI double to drive in Genesis Acosta and Kaylee Beltran's sacrifice fly scored Danneker.
A Reedley error allowed a pair of runs to come home in the fifth and Forthman closed out the scoring with her solo home run to centerfield in the sixth.
Pompa also contributed to the win, leading Taft with her 3 for 4 game at the plate.
Silva put together a pair of impressive outings in helping lead Taft to the sweep of Porterville on Tuesday. She tossed a three-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts in the narrow 1-0 opening-game win and came right back to throw six innings while allowing just one run in the 8-2 Game 2 victory.
A pair of two-out Porterville errors in the bottom of the second inning led to the game's only run. Procell reached base thanks to an error at first base, advanced to third on another error off the bat of Silva, and came in to score thanks to a clutch RBI single by Beltran.
Pompa put together another big day offensively, going a perfect 4 for 4 with 2 RBI in the second game of the doubleheader. Pompa and Kiley Lyons (1 for 3) both drove in two runs while Beltran (1 for 3) had an RBI and scored twice.
With the three wins, Taft improved to 10-22 overall and 4-8 in Central Valley Conference play. The Cougars return to action on Saturday (Apr. 9) when they are scheduled to play a pair of non-conference games in Lancaster. TC will take on host Antelope Valley College at 10 a.m. and will face Rio Hondo College at noon.
