Honkers go yard

Katelyn Noreen and Cydnie Reynolds each hit home runs and Jordan Tracy came two outs away from recording a shutout to lead the Yuba City High softball team to its first win of the year with a 6-1 victory over visiting Marysville on Friday.

The win snapped a four-game losing streak to open the season for the Honkers.

"They're really starting to come together," said Yuba City coach Chuck Robinson. "We talked a lot yesterday about the mental aspect of the game and today they were a totally different team."

Yuba City wasted no time jumping on the Indians, as the Honkers batted around in the first inning to plate three runs.

Leadoff hitter Jacqueline Van Ruiten was hit by a pitch to start the rally and was followed by a walk to Ashley Richins.

After a Marysville error allowed Van Ruiten to score, sophomore Randi Smith sent a hard liner down the third-base line. The ball hit the bag and caromed into shallow left field allowing two runs to score as Smith raced into second base with a double.

The quick 3-0 lead was the perfect remedy for the Honkers (1-4).

"Getting that quick start was huge because it gave us some confidence," said Robinson. "And turning around and getting three-up and three-down was important, too."

Marysville (2-7), taking advantage of some early control problems by Tracy, had five runners reach base in the first four innings.

Four Indians attempted to steal second base and each time Noreen came up big behind the plate by throwing out each runner with plenty of room to spare.

The score remained 3-0 until the bottom of the third when Reynolds led off the inning with a home run to center field to give the Honkers a four-run cushion.

The rest of the game belonged to Tracy, who allowed one run on three hits while striking out seven in a complete-game effort. "Jordan threw great and should've had a shutout," Robinson said. "She threw a solid game and stayed ahead in the count most of the time."

Noreen made the score 6-0 when she clubbed a long two-run home run to deep left-center field in the fourth inning.

"It was right there on the sweet spot and I just hit it," Noreen said, adding that a new warm-up routine was the key to Tracy's success on the mound. "We'll be OK once we get rolling and today was a good team win."

Marysville avoided the shutout on Jessie Brown's solo home run to center field with one out in the seventh.

"We're working with what we have right now," said Marysville coach Codi Walker, adding that pitching ace Tori Shelgren is out with an injury and starter Fiona Newman was pitching with a sore thumb.

"Defensively we need some work, but the girls are working hard," Walker added. "We always play the hardest teams in the preseason and we're contending with some tough teams. We just need a little work. We start league on Tuesday so hopefully we'll step it up."

Noreen finished the game 2-for-4 with two RBIs, Van Ruiten and Reynolds each scored twice and Smith drove in two runs to lead Yuba City's five-hit attack.

Brown had two of Marysville's three hits and Alex Tanner was solid in relief, allowing one hit in two innings of work.

"Eighty percent of the game is mental and today they were into the game," Robinson said, adding that he was pleased with the play of three sophomore starters. "We had some hard hit balls for outs and everyone hit solidly today."

Contact Andy Arrenquin at 743-0512 or at aarrenquin@appealdemocrat.com.