Thanks to the weather, the San Bernardino Valley College softball team got three extra days to prepare for its season opener.
That extra time might have led to some early game jitters, as the Wolverines committed two errors in the top of the first to fall behind to visiting Imperial Valley 1-0.
But SBVC rallied back in the bottom half of the first, scoring twice, then, answered a two-run third inning by the Desert Warriors with a seven-run output in the bottom half to build a lead they would not relinquish again, beating Imperial Valley 12-10 at the SBVC Softball Complex.
SBVC opened the bottom of the first with three consecutive singles from Jayla Holley, Nevaeh McGruder, and Stephanie Varela to load the bases. Aliza Henriquez came up fourth and hit a towering double to center to score Holley and McGruder to give SBVC a 2-1 lead.
After the Desert Warriors took the lead back in the third, Henriquez led off the bottom half with the second of three doubles on the day. She scored one out later when Emma Rubio traded places with a double to left-center. Stephanie De La Cruz followed with an infield single and Julissa Alford drew a walk to chase Imperial Valley starter Victoria Vallejo.
Madesyn Cote greeted reliever Anahi Lopez with a single to score Rubio, followed by a sacrifice fly from Holley that scored De La Cruz. With two outs, McGruder sent the ball to the fence in left-center, and she legged out a triple to score Alford and Cote. Varela reached on an error to score McGruder and Henriquez doubled for the second time in the inning to score Varela to close out the scoring in the inning.
Imperial Valley rallied with two outs in the top of the fourth against SBVC pitcher Kaela Marin, who was pulled after hitting a batter to score a run, then walking in another. Kaydance Hjelm came in to get the final out of the inning, and she pitched the rest of the way to get credit for the save.
Henriquez ended the game 3-for-4 at the plate with the three doubles and three runs batted in. McGruder and Rubio both added two RBI, while De La Cruz finished 2-for-2, with two walks, a triple, and two runs scored.
