Garden City drops first game of road trip

By Mike Pilosof

Photo by Adam Shrimplin

Vernon, TX-Becky Gundy is giving her team a serious non-conference test this year. Friday was yet another example.

Aariyana Egan drove in three runs, Kaila Eastburn struck out 11, and Vernon, a team receiving votes in the latest national polls, beat Garden City 10-0 in five innings Friday at Wade Kirk Field.

And the Chaparrals put the pressure on from the beginning.

Vernon started the bottom of the first with a double by Stonie Carrillo, a walk and an RBI single by Egan. Two batters later, McKayla Encinias booted a ball at short that allowed a run to score before Egan came home on a passed ball to make it 3-0.

In the third, Vernon put the game away. Courtney Vidrine's run-scoring single was followed up by Gaby Hernandez's two-base error that pushed it to 6-0. Moments later, Carillo slapped an RBI double to the gap in right, and Egan ripped a two-run extra base hit to put the home team up 9-0. They added one more in the fourth on another passed ball.

Meantime the Broncbusters couldn't get anything going against Eastburn, managing just one hit—a double by Audrey Graf in the fourth.

Carillo, Egan and Aguirre all notched multi-hit games for Vernon, a program that just four years ago lost 50 games. They're now 10-1.