Lady Bulldogs pull away late, close out Southwest in last game before league play begins
Defending CIF champion Calexico ready to kick off IVL play after big win
CALEXICO, Calif., (KYMA, KECY) - At this time last year, Calexico Bulldogs softball was in the midst of beginning league play in the Desert League.
Fast forward two months later, the Lady Dogs were in the state tournament following a historic run to winning both a league and CIF title. Now with a new look, the garnet and white take on the 2023 season after a shift into the Imperial Valley League - aiming to follow up last year's title push.
After traveling around southern California through the first part of the season, they found themselves back at home in an Imperial Valley clash with Southwest on Tuesday night.
The Lady Eagles would strike first in the top half of the inning, taking a 1-0 - before the Bulldogs answered on a RBI single from Sheila Fernanda Cano to score Carolina Chong.
Both teams would trade runs again between the bottom of the third and top of the fourth - setting up a 2-2 game entering the bottom half of the fifth inning.
A leadoff double from the sophomore Chong then opened up a big inning for Calexico. Several walks turned a run and led to a pitching change before an error on a rundown turned into two more runs.
Calexico's 5-2 lead would hold until the end - Victoria Vallejo closing the door in the final two innings to earn the complete game win in the circle and leading the Bulldogs to their fourth win of the year.
After the win, coach Jennifer Lopez was encouraged by their play as they finally open up IVl play on Friday.
"Today was good. Today they battled, they fought from the first pitch until the last out. It was an overall really good effort," said Lopez. "We've dealt with a lot of rainouts and ran into snow early on. It's been a struggle to get into the routine of things. We are a new team out here competing, but today was good. They're kind of figuring it out - team chemistry, what's going to work and what we need to work on. But overall I'm just proud of the work they've been doing so far."
The Bulldogs are back home on Friday night as they host the Central Lady Spartans to open Imperial Valley League play.
