GUSTINE — The Gustine Reds endured a rough afternoon Monday, falling 11–0 to Le Grand in a five‑inning matchup marked by an early Bulldogs surge and a late bright spot on the mound.

Le Grand jumped ahead quickly in the top of the first, capitalizing on walks and aggressive base running. Gustine starter Natalie Ventura showed flashes of command, and the Reds’ defense delivered a pair of sharp plays — a force at second by Kylie Palomino and a clean stop at short by Leilah Fara — but the Bulldogs’ bats stayed hot. A three‑run triple and a follow‑up double helped push the lead to 9–0 before Gustine came to the plate.

The Reds settled in defensively after the opening frame.

Juliana Martinez took over pitching duties in the second inning and delivered one of the afternoon’s highlights. Making her debut in the circle, Martinez showed poise and a surprisingly high strikeout rate through the middle innings, holding Le Grand to just two runs the rest of the way.

“It was so much fun,” Martinez said. “I thought I was going to do so bad because at practice yesterday I didn’t do the best, but my teammates really came through for me. It was so fun to pitch.”

Offensively, Gustine struggled to break through. Kolby Watts and Daryana Elizalde each found the outfield in the fifth — Watts with a base hit and Elizalde with a hard shot to right — but the Bulldogs’ pitching staff piled up double‑digit strikeouts to preserve the shutout.

The Reds will look to regroup Wednesday when they travel to Merced to face Stone Ridge Christian at 4 p.m.