Cuesta Softball hosted a pair of 2025 Playoff teams a for four game mini tournament this weekend and after losing on Friday to both  #19 Saddleback, 8-2, and falling to Monterey, 14-10 on Friday, when the Lobos rallied in the late innings. On Saturday, Cuesta hosted a rematch with Saddleback, and this time they brought the lumber with four home runs in a game dedicated to the long ball.  The Bobcats' Ehva Cifuentes opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the first inning, but the Cougars halved the margin by manufacturing a run on Cierra Cloud's single and stolen base, before Addy Finegan doubled her to cut Saddleback's advantage.  Cloud and Finegan struck again in the second inning, with Cloud smacking a two-run double, before being driven in on Finegan's home run.  Saddleback responded with four runs in their next turn at the plate and both teams cooled down until the sixth inning.  The Cougars, with two outs in the 6th, grabbed the lead, 7-6, on back-to-back home runs by Finegan and Catcher Brielle Burt.   In the 7th inning, Saddleback managed to tie the game, by taking advantage of a single, a wild pitch and an error to force extra innings.  The Bobcats, following the CCCAA Tie-break Rule, placed Millie Maher at second base to start the inning.  Cifuentes reached first base on an error to open the inning and advanced Maher to give Saddleback runners on the corners.  Cuesta Pitcher Georgia Wilson coaxed a pop-up to Saddleback's Clean-up Hitter Averi Moon, before LuLu Garcia's Sacrifice Fly scored Maher for the lead.  Wilson, who allowed only three earned runs in her Cuesta debut, coaxed a groundout to end the inning and waited to see if her offense could come through in the bottom of the 8th inning. The Cougars, by rule, placed Audrey Mercier at second base, and she immediately moved to third on an error that also left Caitlin Shaw safe at the other corner.  Mercier tied the game on Shortstop Shelbi Griffith's Sacrifice Fly, before Finegan came back around to close the game.  Finegan slugged a "walk-off" two-run home run to close the game, 10-8.  The clout marked her sixth home run of the weekend and ninth of the season.  Finegan, who slugged a respectful five home runs in 2025, now has 14 career home runs and is only two dingers shy of Amanda Mueller's (2005-06) school record of 16 roundtrippers.  The power win for the Cougars also boosted their overall season record to 3-9.  

 

Cuesta Softball is on the road for the rest of February and will not play in front of the Cuesta Faithful again, until they host Oxnard for a Western State Conference game on March 10.  The Cougars shall spend next Tuesday (12/2) in Coalinga for a doubleheader against the host Falcons, before turning South for another twinbill against Los Angeles Mission (12/2 PM) on Valentine's Day.  The doubleheader against the host Eagles (ne' Free Spirit) marks the opening of the Cougars' Western State Conference schedule.