Charlotte stunned, swept by Ganado




Mia Campos prepares to swing at a pitch in Charlotte’s area round series with Ganado on Saturday. The Trojanettes were swept by Ganado. MERCEDES SANCHEZ | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

Mia Campos prepares to swing at a pitch in Charlotte’s area round series with Ganado on Saturday. The Trojanettes were swept by Ganado. MERCEDES SANCHEZ | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

The No. 10-ranked Charlotte Trojanettes exited the playoffs early.

Charlotte dropped the first two games of their best-of-3 area round series to Ganado

With both teams making the same number of errors in the first game, the Trojanettes took a tough loss, 10-9.

Ganado jumped right on the scoreboard, scoring four runs in the first inning. The Trojanettes answered right back in the bottom of the first.

With the bases loaded, freshman Gabby Mata tripled on a deep fly ball to make it a one-run game. Charlotte took a 5-4 lead when junior Stephanie Ramos homered to left field.

Eventually, Ganado would take the lead once again in the second inning. Ganado held the Trojanettes to minimal damage in the seventh. The Trojanettes scored once in the seventh, but couldn’t score the two runners that were on base.

Charlotte had eight hits in the game. Ariel Ramon, Ariella Cumpian and Mata each had two hits to lead for the Trojanettes.

Sophomore pitcher Ashley Gaitan took the loss allowing 10 runs on 14 hits. She struck out five and walked one through seven innings pitched.

Ariella Cumpian sets up to catch a pitch during Charlotte’s area round series with Ganado. She is one of just two seniors graduating from this year’s team. MERCEDES SANCHEZ | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

Ariella Cumpian sets up to catch a pitch during Charlotte’s area round series with Ganado. She is one of just two seniors graduating from this year’s team. MERCEDES SANCHEZ | PLEASANTON EXPRESS

“I did the best I could for my team. Mid-game, I told the girls I’m going to do my best to get the outcome we all wanted,” Gaitan said. “We all worked on certain things at practice. I prepared myself by staying after practice and putting in extra work.”

Charlotte fell 16-12 in the second game, which was played 30 minutes after the first.

The Trojanettes got the lead right out of the gate when freshman Gabby Mata delivered a three-run home run in the first.

Ganado wouldn’t answer back until the bottom of the second inning when they scored eight runs to take the lead. The Trojanettes regained a 10-9 lead in the fourth thanks to RBIs from Gaitan, Mata and Angel Cruz.

Despite pulling a pair of runs back to cut the deficit to 16-12 in the sixth inning, Charlotte’s comeback bid fell short. The Trojanettes tallied a total of 16 hits. Ramon led Charlotte with four hits in four at bats.

Cruz started the game, allowing nine hits and nine runs over three innings. Gaitan finished the game, allowing five hits and seven runs over three innings, walking one.

“I tried my hardest to hype up the girls. No matter the situation, I was trying to put a smile on the girls’ faces,” said Gaitan.

Gaitan will be a junior next year and hopes to continue her on-field success.

“Next season, I expect to work extremely hard,” Gaitan said. “This year was definitely our year, but things happen. We just have to move forward from this, and work hard next season. Every season is a reset from last, we still need to be hungry for this game.”

The Charlotte Trojanettes will only lose two seniors: third baseman Jessalyn Sanchez and catcher Ariella Cumpian.

“I really didn’t expect to get out this early,” Sanchez said. “I thought we could’ve made it about four rounds deep, at least, maybe even one more round but I guess it just wasn’t in our favor.” said Sanchez.

“I did not expect to get out this early. We had a really good team this year. I thought we were going to go further than before,” Cumpian added. “We all had the mindset of winning, but I guess we just fell short in the end.”

The Trojanettes end their season with a 24-9 record overall and a district championship.

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