Green Valley had all the reason it needed to fold up its tent and go home Monday.
The Gators' apparently tied the game on a two-run homer in the fifth inning. But a base-running gaffe reduced the hit to a an inning-ending RBI triple, leaving Green Valley trailing Valhalla, 2-1 in the Fred Davison Memorial softball tournament.
And that came after the Gators dropped a 10-0, four-inning decision to Granada Hills (Calif.) in their first game.
Instead, Green Valley responded with a five-run sixth inning to beat Valhalla, 6-3.
"The girls we have bounce back very quickly," said Green Valley coach Lauren Taylor. "These kids have a tremendous amount of heart when they want to."
The Gators trailed 2-0 entering the fifth, and appeared to tie the game Katherine Conti's blast. But Conti failed to touch home plate as she was mobbed by teammates.
After Valhalla scored a run in the bottom of the fifth, Kayla Anderson led off the sixth inning with a home run.
"It only takes one hit to get a rally going," Taylor said. "Fortunately for us, that was a spark."
Walks to Alicia Firelein and Alexandra Bodnar, and a dropped pop-up tied the game.
Kari Gardner's infield hit brought home Bodnar with the go-ahead run.
Jasmine Byndlass' grounder to first and a throwing error produced two more runs and gave the Gators a cushion.
Katie Stewart worked out of a bases-loaded no-out jam in the bottom of the inning to preserve the victory. Stewart tap-danced around eight hits and five walks to earn the win.
• Granada Hills (Calif.) 10, Green Valley 0 -- The Gators had just one hit and committed eight errors in only four innings.
• Clark 9, Ursuline (Calif.) 1 -- The Chargers were the only area team to get off to a strong start in the tournament, knocking off Ursuline.
Jordyn McDonald struck out 16 in a two-hitter.
• West Hills (Calif.) 5, Clark 3 -- The Chargers didn't fare as well in the second game as West Hills got timely hits off McDonald.
Clark trailed for most of the afternoon game with West Hills, but let a golden opportunity slip by in the home half of the sixth.
Trailing 4-3, McDonald slapped a leadoff triple, but Kristy Valles got a groundout and a pair of strikeouts to end the threat.
A.J. Jaehn homered for Clark, and the Chargers got an RBI groundout from Melissa Arroyo that tied the game at two in the fourth.
McDonald turned in another solid performance, scattering nine hits and striking out 11.
• Madison (Calif.) 13, Faith Lutheran 12 -- Faith Lutheran recovered after allowing 10 first-inning runs and tied the game at 12-12 on an RBI single by Kellie Kersey in the fifth inning.
Madison scored the winner in the bottom of the sixth on a two-out hit by Breanne Morales.
Michelle Beatty hit a grand slam and a two-run triple for the Crusaders.
• Knight (Calif.) 10, Faith Lutheran 0 -- Knight took a 7-0 lead after two innings and held Faith Lutheran to three hits.
• Sierra Vista 15, Mar Vista (Calif.) 5 -- Amelia McIntosh and Brittany Reynolds both homered to power the Lions past Mar Vista.
• Sylmar (Calif.) 12, Sierra Vista 2 -- Crystal Hernandez fired a three-hitter and struck out nine to lead Sylmar.
• Santana (Calif.) 10, Valley 0 -- A five-run third inning sparked Santana. Valley managed only two hits.
• Birmingham (Calif.) 14, Valley 3 -- Lorena Villamar went 2-for-2 with a double, but it wasn't enough for the Vikings.
• Cathedral Catholic (Calif.) 7, Cimarron-Memorial 3 -- The Spartans had only six hits, singles by six different players, in the loss.
• El Camino Real (Calif.) 11, Cimarron-Memorial 1 -- Vanessa Gonzalez had two of Cimarron's four hits.
• Banning (Calif.) 23, Coronado 5 -- Allie Amato went 2-for-2 with a double, a triple and two RBIs in a losing effort.
• Monte Vista (Calif.) 11, Coronado 9 -- Monte Vista scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to finally put away the Cougars, who rallied from a 7-4 deficit.
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