Taft sweeps pair from Coast Union on softball diamond

The Coast Union softball team ran into a tough Taft High School squad Saturday, Feb. 27, losing both ends of the doubleheader, 11-1, and 10-0. It was the first games of the season for the Lady Broncos, and because head coach Rocky Fordyce did not have an assistant coach to help him, he asked a parent in attendance to step up.

Fordyce no longer has Chris Corbet — an experienced softball mentor who has been assisting Fordyce as part of the program for several years — because of the policy put forward by Athletic Director Thom Holt and school Principal Jonathan Sison that prevents coaches having sons or daughters on a team.

In the first game, Coast Union committed eight errors, and so only three of those 11 runs given up by pitcher Ellie Magnuson — who pitched all seven innings — were earned runs. Magnuson gave up seven hits, walked two and did not strike out any batters. Coast’s only run scored when Ashley Martinez walked, moved to third and scored on a passed ball.

Reagan Kniffen, Ani Corbet and Melody Robinson each had base hits; Corbet had seven putouts from her shortstop position, and Alyssa Drew made a great catch in center field for Coast.

Coast Union’s defense committed eight more errors in the second game behind pitcher Corbet; hence, only three of Taft’s 10 runs were earned. Corbet struck out one, allowed six hits and walked four in a complete-game effort.

This story was originally published March 2, 2016 at 10:53 AM with the headline "Taft sweeps pair from Coast Union on softball diamond."