GALT — After a tough first six innings, Sierra junior hurler Lindsey Walljasper came up huge in the bottom of the seventh Thursday when she struck out the top of the order for No. 3 Liberty Ranch-Galt to get the No. 6 Timberwolves an 8-6 win in second-round action of the Sac-Joaquin Section Division IV playoffs. 

The game was far from pretty with the two teams combining for 10 errors and Sierra picking up six of them. None of the runs for the Hawks (20-3-1) were earned.

“Lindsey had problems hitting her locations and defensively we struggled,” Sierra coach Vic DeAnda said. “We had some infield errors, throwing errors and even fly-ball errors. We just didn’t play good defense at all.”

Trailing 6-5 going into the seventh, senior Kiara Baleva (3 for 4, triple) led off the frame for the Timberwolves (12-9) by legging out an infield single. Freshman Mia Guevara (2 for 4) went to advance Baleva on a sacrifice bunt but a throwing error landed Baleva on third and Guevara on second. Walljasper squeezed Baleva home on a sacrifice bunt to tie the score and advance Guevara to third.

The Sierra youth parade continued when freshman Samantha Lorge doubled down the left-field line to score Guevara, and freshman Nicole Gardner singled to plate Lorge to put the Timberwolves ahead, 8-6.

“The senior (Baleva) got it going for us in the seventh inning but then the three freshmen (Guevara, Lorge and Gardner) got the clutch hits for us,” DeAnda said. “But I want to say one more thing about Lindsey: even though she didn’t really have her game today, when it came to the last inning when we needed the big strikeouts she faced their No. 1, 2, and 3 batters and struck every one of them out to shut the game down that tells you what kind of competitor she is.”

Sierra will play a quarterfinal contest Saturday against No. 2 Calaveras on Saturday at Arnaiz Field in Stockton at 2 p.m.