ZEPHYR COVE - Just over a month ago, the Whittell softball team suffered a 10-0 road loss to Dayton. On Tuesday, the two teams played a slightly different game. Sierra Barnwell went 4 for 5 and Sara Simmons was 3 for 4 with two solo home runs as Dayton held on for a 13-10 nonleague win at Zephyr Cove Park. The Warriors had two runners on base in the bottom of the seventh, but freshman pitcher Brittany Curtis got Justina Pritzker to ground out to end the game.
"The first time we played them, we couldn't catch the ball and we couldn't hit the ball," said first-year WHS coach Rich Barna. "This is a game we can build from and use as momentum."
Dayton (13-10), which wrapped up its fifth consecutive Northern 3A regional tournament berth on Monday against Sparks, jumped to an 11-4 lead in the fifth inning before the Warriors countered with four runs in the bottom of the fifth to make it 11-8.
Then in the sixth, Whittell's Megan Esquivel belted a two-run double as the Warriors trailed 12-10 - with the tying run at the plate. Curtis, though, escaped further trouble by striking out Austyn Harrington for the inning's third out.
"I wasn't pleased with how we played," said Dayton coach Dusti Houk, now in her seventh season with the program. "I don't want to take anything away from Whittell because they played well. We were coming off such a big high on Monday and we didn't come out like I wanted to today."
Both teams recorded 12 hits apiece, with Whittell senior Courtney Fields leading the way by going 5 for 5 with a double. The Warriors (10-12) face another 3A team today when it travels to play a doubleheader against Truckee.