Granite Bay holds on for 3-2 win over Oak Ridge

Softball season has been a struggle for the Granite Bay High School. The Grizzlies play in the tough Sierra Foothill League, and their record shows, as the team has only won one of their first seven games heading into Wednesday's road game at Oak Ridge. The Trojans found themselves in the same situation as the Grizzlies, with just one more win and buried in the SFL standings. "We're struggling," Granite Bay coach Mallory Moller said before the game. "We can't get everything to work at the same time, but these girls are super resilient and I know it will come together. It's one of those things where at the beginning of the year our pitching wasn't there and our hitting was and now our hitting has dropped off and our pitching is better. This group of girls is super resilient and I know they'll get it back." The team made their coach look like she can see the future, as the Grizzlies earned their second league win of the season Wednesday, beating Oak Ridge 3-2. Granite Bay pitcher Cam Lincoln breezed through five innings, allowing one hit, two walks and striking out three. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies put two runs on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning when Taylor Johnson was hit by a pitch and two batters later Leilani Terrazas hit a home run. A home run by Reese Litherland in the sixth inning gave the Grizzlies an insurance run they would need. Oak Ridge scored a run in the bottom of the sixth inning when Gemma Almont hit a one-out triple and scored on a wild pitch. With Brooklyn Paratore on third, Lincoln struck out Hayden Chua to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Camdyn Glaser hit a leadoff double before advancing to third on a single by Arissa Jerrett. Glaser then scored on an error by Granite Bay catcher Sami McKown to make it 3-2, while Jerrett advanced to third. Emory Glaser then tried to bunt the tying run in, but while she was safe at first, the Granite Bay second baseman threw to McKown to nail Jerrett at the plate trying to score. Glaser advanced to third on the play. With Oak Ridge a hit away from tying the score, Lincoln enticed Kennedi Freeland to fly out to right field to end the game. Moller never doubted her team even though they've struggled this season. "This team has got a great attitude," Moller said. "They show up to work every single day. They're one of the best groups I've ever had in that respect."