ALTURAS – A week after being swept by Fall River, the Mt. Shasta Lady Bears pulled off a sweet sweep of the Modoc Lady Braves, on their turf. Modoc had occupied the second spot in the Shasta Cascade League Standings. That spot now belongs to the Lady Bears.

In game-one, Mt. Shasta went into the bottom of the second inning with a 1-0 lead, from a run in the first inning. But, before the first Modoc batter of the inning stepped up to the plate, the Lady Bears lost their ace pitcher, Lauren McCurrey, to a pulled thigh muscle, during warm up pitches. Coach Greg Eastman went to the bench and called on Amanda Woods to get the job done. She did.

Woods and the Lady Bears gave up one run in the bottom of the second, to make the score 1-1, but Modoc would not score again until the bottom of the sixth inning.

Mt. Shasta regained the lead in the top of the third inning, with a pair of runs, to lead 3-1. Another Lady Bear run in the fourth made it 4-1. The Lady Braves added a run in the bottom of the sixth inning, making the final 4-2.

For the Lady Bears, Sammy Reed went 3-4. Valerie Hougan was 2-4, with a pair of runs. Bella Campbell scored a run, going 1-4. Cynthia Laiacona walked and scored a run. Woods was the winning pitcher (6IP, 2R, 3H, BB, 2K). McCurrey pitched the first inning and gave up no runs, two hits, and no walks.

The Lady Bears started game-two with a bang, posting five runs in the top of the first inning. Modoc responded with a pair of runs to make it 5-2, after one inning. Mt. Shasta pushed three runs across the plate in the top of the third inning, and Modoc scored two runs in the bottom half, making it 8-4. Mt. Shasta added two runs in the fifth inning to take a 10-4 lead. Modoc scored two in the sixth inning and one in the seventh, to make the final 10-7.

For Mt. Shasta, Hannah MacKenzie went 3-4 with a double. Laiacona scored a pair of runs, took a walk, and went 2-3. Reed was 1-3, with two runs, and a walk. Amber Butts went 2-5, and scored a run. Jackie Degray went hitless, but scored three runs, and had a walk. Kayla Emerson went the distance for the win (7IP, 7R, 4ER, 11H, BB, 3K).

The pair of wins against Modoc improved the Lady Bears record to 5-5 in the SCL (9-12), good enough to hold second place. The much improved Mt. Shasta squad has also positioned themselves to get into the playoffs.

“(O)ur defense although not flawless, came through with several very key plays, almost always after an error. The outfield is playing outstanding and had five assists for outs, four at third and one at home to keep us close,” said Coach Eastman. “The playoff chase is on. (T)his moves us into second in the Shasta Cascade with two weeks to go.”

The Lady Bears finish up their SCL season on Friday, April 25 in Weaverville, against Trinity (1-5, 5-12).