By Rick Assad
Providence High’s Madelynn Watts is a freshman but based on her early outings, has all the tools and makings to be a very fine pitcher.
On Tuesday afternoon, the young right-hander turned away Rio Hondo Prep 9-3 at Olive Park in a Prep League game.
The first-year hurler allowed six hits, finished with 15 strikeouts, walked one across seven innings and tossed two perfect frames.
Watts fanned five of the six batters she faced in the second and sixth innings.
On the offensive side of the ledger, senior Delailah Lopez had two doubles and drove in three runs, junior Evangelina Aleman added a single and a double with two runs batted in and freshman Sofia Carrillo tossed in two singles for the Pioneers.
Lopez is the catcher and has been accepted to Cornell University and will play softball for the women’s team.
“I felt very confident at the plate,” she said. “My approach is to always stay calm and do whatever I can to get on base for my team”
Providence, which was a little bit shaky on defense after committing three errors, led 1-0 after the first inning as Aleman singled to center field with one out which drove in senior Mia Allinson, who led off with a single to left field.
Manny Travieso is the Providence coach and was pleased with the victory but also wants to shore up some things.
“A win is a win, but we need to tighten up our defense. We’ve got a lot of talented players rotating through different positions, and that’s by design,” he said. “My goal is to challenge these kids by putting them in tough situations, helping them grow and become more versatile. It’s all about making them more valuable when they head to college – that’s the ultimate goal.”
The Pioneers (2-1 and 1-0 in league) made it 5-0 after a four-run second inning as seven batters made their way to the plate.
Carrillo singled, sophomore Stellina Truglio doubled, Lopez added a double to center field for an RBI and sophomore Siena Hartman had a scoring grounder.
Providence’s advantage ballooned to 7-1 in the fifth as Aleman’s double to left field scored Lopez, who walked and senior Gloria Galindo (two hits) tossed in a single to left field that plated Lopez.
Lopez chimed in with a two-run double to center field in the sixth inning to make it 9-1 as Carillo singled to right field and crossed the plate as did Allinson, who walked.
Watts escaped a bases-loaded threat in the first inning after allowing a hit to junior Tara Riley and then walked junior Allie Scott.
Sophomore Ryen Covey was safe on an error, but Watts fanned junior Madison Burl looking, junior Sam Montez on a called third strike and junior Janna Taflinger swinging.
The Kares (6-3 and 2-2 in league) went down 1-2-3 in the second stanza as senior Bella Fairley, junior Evonny Ortega and freshman Leah Rodriguez all whiffed swinging.
After allowing a run by the Kares in the third inning, Watts gave up a leadoff single to Taflinger in the fourth inning, but erased Fairley, Ortega and Rodriguez on strikeouts.
Watts struck out Scott swinging after surrendering a leadoff single to right field by Riley in the fifth.
In the sixth inning, Watts fanned Montez looking to begin the frame and Fairley swinging to end the inning.
Patti Workman is Providence’s assistant coach and pitching coach.
“I am very proud of Maddy,” she said. “She did a great job today. Maddy showed a lot of maturity in the circle for a freshman, leading the team to a 9-3 win with 15 strikeouts.”
Lopez had fun behind the plate and saw what Watts is capable of.
“I am so proud of Maddie’s first appearance in a league game,” she said. “She did very well under pressure and I’m excited to see what more she has in store for us this season. She has so much potential and I’m really excited to see her grow as a player.”
Rio Hondo Prep sent six batters to the plate in the seventh inning and scored two runs as Ortega was safe on an infield single to open in the frame and scored on a double to center field by Rodriguez, who also crossed the plate on an error.
