Allie Fryklund Fans 14, Shuts Out Dos Pueblos to Give San Marcos a Share of Channel League Title
Iza Velasquez has a 4-for-4 day at the plate to lead a 15-hit attack for the Royals
Allie Fryklund of San Marcos smacks a single up the middle in the third inning for an RBI. Fryklund had two hits and struck out 14 batters to lead the Royals to a 5-0 win over Dos Pueblos. (Gary Kim / Noozhawk photo)
Senior pitcher Allie Fryklund was humming in the circle and the San Marcos hitters were spraying the ball all over the diamond in the Channel League softball first-place showdown at Dos Pueblos on Tuesday.
That combination proved to be too much for the host Chargers to handle, as the Royals took a 5-0 victory to earn a share of the league championship.
San Marcos is now 13-1 (16-4 overall), and can claim the title outright with a victory over 12-2 Dos Pueblos (16-6 overall) in the league finale at home on Thursday. If the Chargers win, the teams finish as co-champions.
Fryklund pitched like she was on a mission. She allowed just three hits, walked two and struck out 14, including four in the first inning when one of her victims reached first base on a dropped third strike.
“They haven’t seen the new Allie,” San Marcos coach Jeff Swann said. “Halfway through the season, something clicked and everything was just snapping out of her hand. They saw that today.
“She’s got confidence. Every pitch she has is working, and I’m super proud of her for battling today. It’s fun to see her work out there.”
Dos Pueblos baserunner Mia Reveles can’t beat the throw to San Marcos first baseman Cassandra Perez. (Gary Kim / Noozhawk photo)
Dos Pueblos coach Mike Gerken was impressed.
“Allie Fryklund is a senior, and we expected nothing less,” he said. “This is the last time she faces DP in the last week of her high school career. We knew she was going to come with it, and we thought we were up to the task. She kind of overpowered us today.”
The San Marcos offense did a terrific job supporting Fryklund’s stellar big-game performance as it collected a hit in every inning and finished the afternoon with 15 hits.
“I told the kids not every hit is going to be a lined drive, but if you work hard at the plate and get enough of the ball, it will drop somewhere,” Swann said. “I’m happy with the little blooper hits or the ones that drop over first base. Those are just as valuable as a lined drive to right field. They did a great job of working at the plate and getting enough of the ball to put it in play.”
Gerken said San Marcos’ ability to find the holes in the defense was key to the game.
“They only hit us hard three times, but they kept finding the holes, wherever we weren’t,” he said. “You compound a couple of mistakes we made and they capitalized.
“That was our game plan. They executed our game plan perfectly: put the ball in play, and if there’s a mistake, capitalize. That’s exactly what they did.”
The Royals gave Fryklund a lead to work with in the first inning. With one out, Caitlyn Early beat out a slow roller in the infield and advanced to second on Fryklund’s hard-hit come-backer that DP pitcher Georgia Wilson had to block. Gigi Gritt’s single to center scored Early.
The Royals rapped out four hits for two runs in the third. Fryklund smashed a single up the middle to drive in Kamilah Harris, who led off with a single. Two batters later, Iza Velasquez blasted a ground-rule double to right field to score Fryklund for a 3-0 lead.
Velasquez had a 4-for-4 day at the plate, Gritt collected three hits, and Morales and Fryklund had two apiece.
Tiana Monaghan of San Marcos slides safely into third, beating the throw to Dos Pueblos shortstop Jessica Reveles. (Gary Kim / Noozhawk photo)
“Iza has really come on this year,” Swann said. “The ball comes off her bat really hard, and it’s fun to see her be successful.”
Gerken said he was happy for Velasquez, a player he coached in youth softball.
“I love Iza … she’s so cool. I’m really happy for her success,” Gerken said. “She’s a great kid. I wish a great kid wouldn’t beat me, but she did a great job.”
San Marcos capitalized on an error in left field on Early’s long fly ball to score its fourth run and tallied the fifth on single by Mackenzie Mendoza in the seventh.
“That’s how we can play,” Swann said of the impressive performance. “The prior game when we played DP we made mistakes. We weren’t disciplined at the plate; we didn’t play our best softball. We learned from it.”
The Chargers almost broke the shutout in the seventh as Ashley Gerken ripped a one-out double down the left-field line and Teagen Haley drew a two-out walk. But Fryklund struck out the next batter for the final out and let out a roar of approval.
“They did a great job,” Gerken said of the Royals. “It forces a Game 7.”