‘Clutch hit’: One swing of the bat lifts Central Catholic softball past Manteca
While most impact players play softball year-round, alternating between travel ball and their high school season, sophomore Emori Machado doesn’t.
She played travel softball growing up, but stopped to focus on volleyball, her “main sport”, a couple of years ago. But that doesn’t mean she can’t get it done on the diamond too.
Machado says she has “done her part” for the Raiders (12-1-1, 2-0 VOL) this season. She is second on the team in batting average (.400) and home runs (2) and has driven in seven runs on the season.
“She has had some clutch hits throughout the season so far and she’s got a lot of power, too.” Central Catholic coach Sam Nichols said.
When Machado stepped into the box in the bottom of the fifth inning of their first test against the Sac-Joaquin Section’s No. 13 team and Valley Oak League opponent Manteca (9-2, 0-1 VOL), she felt it was just another at bat. She didn’t feel nervous with the bases empty, one out and two strikes.
“I get a lot of energy from the dugout and the team,” Machado said. “We’re all just in it with each other and then I’m like, ‘It’s a 0-0 tie and we’re gonna get it done.’”
The sophomore delivered, driving a pitch over the left center-field fence to score the only run of the game and secure the 1-0 win. It is Raiders’ second league victory and ninth straight overall.
Hitting home runs isn’t anything new for Machado. Nichols says she routinely leaves the park in practice.
“I feel like hitting is one of my more powerful things in the sport,” Machado said. “So, it’s like ‘Wow, I just did that’ but at the same time, I’m like, ‘I do this in practice.’ ”
The Raiders had solid at bats all game leading into the fifth inning, but nothing of substance until Machado’s hit in her only registered at bat of the game.
“We were just waiting for one,” Nichols said. “We have some good at bats, we got people on base but we were just looking for that one hit and Emori came through with it.”
Central Catholic has had different players step up all season. Machado was just the latest. After not working on offense for the first month of the season, they are starting to see their work in practice pay off.
Pitcher Randi Roelling, who leads the state in strikeouts and had 18 against the Buffaloes, doesn’t need much of a cushion to get her job done so Nichols had the team work on the defense behind her.
“Our offense is coming along because we didn’t do any offense the first month or so … for games like this,” Nichols said. “We knew that we would be in every single game because of pitching. Our philosophy was we’ll get one swing like (Machado’s) and win 1-0.”
The Raiders will finish their week with two league games as they travel to Weston Ranch on Wednesday and host East Union on Friday.
This story was originally published March 29, 2022 at 10:19 AM.
