Aaliyah Escamilla's walk-off secures Warden's sweep over Kiona-Benton

WARDEN — Warden sophomore Aaliyah Escamilla doesn’t like to be crowded.

So when the Kiona-Benton infield pushed up even with the pitcher’s circle to take away her speed, the 5-foot-4, left-handed slapper proved she has a little pop in her bat with a line shot, walk-off single to right field and the Cougars swept the Bears 6-5 on Thursday in eight innings.

The Cougars (16-2, 14-0 SCAC East) had clinched the SCAC East with a 5-1 victory in the opener, so the battle of wills against the conference runner-up in the late game was a showcase of the competitiveness they’ll need in the postseason.

“It really bugs me when they bring infield in like that,” said Escamilla, who tripled in the early game. “I was under a lot of pressure and I knew it. So just had to relax and get a good swing. “When I hit it I was running down the first base line hoping it was far enough. Go, go, go.”

Warden players flooded onto the field as Lexy Gonzalez rounded third and scored from second. Escamilla’s focus was on her part and was making sure the game-winner made it all the way to ground when the wave of blue surrounded her at first base for one loud, noisy group hug.

“We’ve been to (the postseason) last year, so this was a good way to get ready,” Escamilla said.

Warden coach Wes Richins has a luxury not all coaches have. In the bottom half of the eighth, the Cougars skipper sent four consecutive left-handers to the plate with a fifth standing in the on-deck circle. In that final inning, Gonzalez reached on an error with one out. Freshman Lex Hernandez grounded out to the pitcher for the second out, setting up Escamilla’s heroics.

“We have some speed hitting from the left side for us this year,” Richins said. “I’ve never had the luxury of five left-handers before. They’re not all slappers, they can hit away.

“We wanted to really get up for this (doubleheader), because we knew they needed to sweep to win the league championship. We buckled down and the intensity today is the way softball should be played. I think this is good prep going into the postseason.”

Kiona-Benton (15-3, 11-3 SCAC East) did not go quietly into the night once its chances of a league title went down with a loss in the opener. The Bears took the lead in the fourth inning with an RBI single by Araceli Perches.

Warden regained the lead with Jocelyn Chagoya’s second home run of the game in the fifth, but the Bears came right back in the seventh, turning a lead-off walk into a run to tie it at 5-5.

“It was exciting hitting two out today,” Chagoya said. “I was hoping they’d pitch to me again (in the seventh), but they decided to walk me.

“Winning the league is important to us and I think we’d rather have a challenge than win easy. So it was good come back and beat them (in the second game.”

The defensive play of the day came in the top of the eighth when Trinity Krisher singled to lead off the inning. Ki-Be freshman Aracili Perches hit a line shot to the left-center gap, but Escamilla closed hard, made the waist-high grab and threw out the runner at first base for the double play.

Warden will take a 16-game winning streak into the final double header at home on Friday against Zillah.