LEESBURG, Florida - In the final of competition at The Spring Games, Salem's softball team concluded their stay in Florida with one last pair of games. The first contest resulted in a win for the Tigers over Alliance, but they fell in Game 2 to the Le Moyne Dolphins. Both contests played out as follows:Â
Salem 7, Alliance 1
For Game 1, Salem took control of the game early on. They scored two runs on back to back sacrifice bunts by Ricki Garay and Syriah Trujillo to score Jazmyn Moetului and Meladie LaRance. With the 2-0 lead for the Tigers, Alliance battled back with a run on their own in the 4th. Salem controlled the contest, but was looking to widen the gap on the Warriors in the final innings. They did just that in the 7th inning with a total of 5 runs. Meladie LaRance started it off with an RBI triple, and then Moetului knocked an RBI single right after that to score LaRance. Meesha Arroyo added a 2 RBI double of her own later in the inning, and Victoria added one last single to bring in Arroyo for the 7th and final run of the contest. From the pitcher's circle, Meesha Arroyo got the start and struck out 2 on her way to a win. Andrea Gallegos came in in the 6th inning, and pitched two flawless innings to earn her first save on the year.Â
Le Moyne 5, Salem 1
For Game 2, Salem found themselves in a tough spot early on. The Dolphins knocked in 5 runs in the first 3 innings, so the Tigers would need to mount a furious comeback to get back in the ball game. They found their chance in the 7th, and started a brief rally when Victoria Castro advanced home from third on a Moetului groundout. Unfortunately, that spark was not enough to fuel a major Tiger comeback, and Salem fell 5-1. In the pitcher's circle, Salem got another strong performance from Andrea Gallegos who pitched a complete game and logged 3 strikeouts.Â
While this concludes the Florida portion of the Salem softball season, there are still plenty of chances to see the Tigers in action closer to home. Their next doubleheader will be at Frostburg State on March 22nd at 2 PM.
