The 2019 Taft College softball season came to a close following a split of a Central Valley Conference doubleheader at Merced College on Tuesday. Cierra Papademetriou blasted a pair of home runs in the Cougars' 8-4 opening-game win before Merced took the final game by a score of 12-4.
Taft finished tied for sixth place in the final Central Valley Conference standings with a 5-16 mark and ends the season with a 13-27 overall record.
In Tuesday's opener, Papademetriou hit home runs in consecutive at bats for the Cougars, but it was sophomore Allie Dobbs that came up with the biggest hit in the game.
After smashing her state-leading 15th home run of the season to tie the game up in the fourth inning, Dobbs came through in the clutch when the Cougars needed it most. With the score tied 4-4 in the seventh, Dobbs cleared the bases with a single to give Taft the lead for good.
Dobbs went 2-or-4 with 4 RBI to lead the Cougars at the plate while Papademetriou was 2-for-3 with 3 RBI. Cali Martin also had two hits, going 2-for-4 with a RBI single.
Abrianna Carr earned the final win for Taft, going the distance while allowing 14 hits and four runs.
Fortunes were reversed in the second game, as Merced took control of a close 5-4 contest with a big five-run rally in the third inning on its way to a handing Taft a five-inning defeat to close out the season.
Merced put up three runs in the bottom of the first before the Cougars responded to tie it up. Victoria Rosales drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Morgan Thomas with a run before Isabelle Martinez delivered a two-run single for the equalizer.
The Blue Devils responded by scoring twice in the second but Taft kept it close thanks to a RBI single by Thomas in the top of the third to make it a one-run ball game.
Martinez, making the start for Taft, couldn't make it out of the third inning. Merced totaled four hits and had three walks on its way to the big rally that proved to decide the contest.
The Cougars totaled six hits in the game, getting three from Martin (3-for-3) and two from Thomas (2-for-2, RBI).
Martinez was handed the loss after allowing nine runs and nine hits over 2 1/3 innings.
It was a tough end to a season that had some spectacular moments for the Cougars. Sophomores Dobbs, Jade Martinez, Jessica Silva, and Paige Wagner all played their final game in a Taft College uniform.