No. 15 SMCC Sweeps Doubleheader against Glendale CC

PHOENIX ---

The No. 15 South Mountain Community College softball team (21-9, 21-7 ACCAC) defeated Glendale Community College 14-4 and 21-0 (5) in an Arizona Community College Athletic Conference doubleheader in Glendale on April 24. In the first game, Jackie Traughber and Jaudrey Ah Quin hit home runs, and five Cougars had multiple RBIs to defeat the Gauchos. In the second game, Mia Stankiewicz hit three home runs and finished 4-for-4 with six RBIs, and Christian Smith tossed a three-hit shutout as the Cougars swept the doubleheader.

Game One

SMCC collected 10 hits and scored multiple runs in three frames to post its fifth-straight win over the Gauchos. Four Cougars collected two hits in the victory: Alexa Key, Taylor Mount, Stankiewicz and Traughber.

Traughber, the winning pitcher, helped her cause in the circle with her first home run of the season and a season-high four RBIs. She added two runs scored and a walk. Traughber (13-5) tossed a complete game in the circle, allowing four earned runs to go with three strikeouts in seven innings.

Key was 2-for-4 with two runs, an RBI, a stolen base and a walk, while Stankiewicz went 2-for-3 with a run and two walks. Mount was 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBIs, a double and a stolen base, and Ah Quin had three runs, two RBIs, two walks and her seventh home run of the season.

Tara Lorona had two RBIs, and Marissa Grijalva scored two runs and had a two-run double.

Game Two

SMCC scored a run in all five innings, including eight runs in the second, as it swept the season series against Glendale CC.

Stankiewicz hit her 12th, 13th and 14th home runs of the year in the win, and she is tied for the conference lead. She added six RBIs to raise her season total to 57, which ties for the conference lead. Finally, she also leads the league in batting average at .607 as she chases an ACCAC triple crown.

Key and Mount added three hits in the win to give them each five for the day. Key finished 3-for-4 with four runs, an RBI, a walk and two stolen bases. She leads the ACCAC with 29 stolen bases on the season. Mount went 3-for-4 with a home run and a season-high three runs and four RBIs.

Smith, the winning pitcher, went 2-for-4 with a run, RBI and a walk at the plate. In the circle, she had three strikeouts and one walk in five innings to improve to 8-4 on the season.

Tatumn Ellis, Tori Van Arsdale and Lorona all had two hits in the win. Ellis and Van Arsdale had two RBIs, and Lorona tied a season-high with three runs scored.

Traughber hit her second home run of the day, a three-run shot, and Ah Quin added two runs, an RBI and two walks. 

Riding a four-game winning streak, the No. 15 Cougars host Scottsdale CC in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 27. The first game starts at 1 p.m. 

Photo by Andy Silvas