East snaps four game conference skid with win over South

May 1—CHEYENNE — Cheyenne East softball coach Adam Galicia wanted to use the pain and disappointment of blowing a four-run seventh inning lead to crosstown rival Cheyenne Central as fuel to close out the season.

On Tuesday, the Thunderbirds did just that. After putting up 14 first inning runs against Cheyenne South, East cruised to a 29-0 win to snap a four-game losing streak in conference play.

"We had lost four games in a row (coming into this one) and a lot of it was self-induced," Galicia said. "A lot of the lack of success was things we were doing ourselves.

"I'm proud of the girls, because I told them that we had to play ourselves. We had to make other teams play to our level and take care of business. We were able to make adjustments and get quality at-bats."

The Bison loaded the bases in the first inning thanks to a hit from Charleigh Mellish and a pair of walks from East senior pitcher Lillian Vallejo. But Vallejo got herself out of the jam by striking out the final batter to keep South from doing any damage.

It was all downhill for the Bison following that.

McKenzie Millar kicked off the damage, reaching second on a Bison error that scored Vallejo. Aleah Brooks, Gracie Oswald and Rylee Stephenson recorded back-to-back-to-back hits to score three more runs.

After scoring six more runs, the inning was capped off by a grand slam, inside-the-park home run by Mariah Bledsoe, who drove a ball to the fence in deep left field.

"We had a really good warm up and were locked in," Oswald said. "We have been working on pitch selection and finding the right pitch. Just staying locked in and getting started (right out of the gate) was a lot better than the past games."

South had another opportunity to cut into the lead in the second inning after loading the bases with one out.

However a strike out from Mellish and a ground out to third by Alyssa Albaugh put an end to the inning.

Mistakes and unforced errors continued to be an issue for the Bison, as East went on to put up seven more runs in its next time at the plate.

"Anytime you give a team that was very hungry and was out to prove themselves (it isn't going to go well)," Bison coach Curtis Quigley said. "Anything extra we gave them they definitely took advantage of. They had great approaches at the plate and punished us for all the mistakes we made."

Bledsoe, Millar and Stephenson led East with three hits each. Brooks picked up a home run in the second inning whole going 2-for-2 with three walks and three RBI. Oswald finished 2-for-3 with a triple and a pair of RBI.

South was led by Albaugh and Kaelin VanTassell offensively. VanTassell picked finished 1-for-1 with a hit in the top of the fifth inning and a walk, while Albaugh finished 1-for-3 with an infield single.

The win came at a critical juncture for the T-Birds. With the season winding down, East needed to get back in the conference win column if they wanted to maintain a spot for the Class 4A state tournament in two weeks.

East will play again Saturday at Wheatland, looking to continue its hot play. Galicia admitted, however, that the Bulldogs are not a team that the T-Birds can take lightly, especially given their spot with four conference losses already.

"If we were to finish with three (more) conference losses, there is a potential for us to slide out of the state tournament," Galicia said. "We have to be ready to go (against Wheatland), because they are playing everyone tough."

Matt Atencio covers Laramie County prep sports for WyoSports. He can be reached at matencio@wyosports.net. Follow him on X at @MattAtencio5.