The Nevada Yellow WildCats 18 and under softball team gained the lead for good in the fifth inning on its way to an 8-5 win over the NorCal Athletics on Saturday at Centennial Park in the All-World All-Sports World Series.
The teams exchanged the lead five times before the WildCats came out on top.
The WildCats grabbed the lead with a strong fifth inning with the highlight coming when Bailey Barcellos scored on Kelsie Callahan’s RBI double. Jennifer Purcell went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a double for the WildCats. Purcell doubled in the first and also singled during the fifth-inning rally as the WildCats took an 8-4 lead.
Purcell was also the winning pitcher.
She allowed three hits while striking out two and walking one over three innings.
NorCal hit a solo home run in the fifth to make the score 8-5, but Kaitlyn Jimmy continued her strong effort on the mound, inducing a ground ball to end the game to pick up the save.
The WildCats, after a short break, dropped a 5-2 decision to the Reno Diamonds, a team it had beaten earlier in the tournament.
The score was tied at 2 after three innings. Reno scored one in the first and one in the second, while the WildCats scored one in the second and one in the third.
Valarie Quam drove in the second-inning run with a single, while Purcell drove home the run in the third.
The Diamonds took the lead for good with three runs in the fourth, and the WildCats never recovered, Aaliyah Paxson went 3-for-3 to lead the WildCats. Purcell and Madi Parks added a hit each.
The WildCats have gone 4-1 in the tournament, which concludes today.