Ocean View softball gets timely hits in win over Garden Grove
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Having reached the halfway point of its Golden West League schedule, the Ocean View High softball team had a chance to improve its playoff outlook with a big game at home on Friday.
The Seahawks kept themselves in the fight for the league’s three automatic playoff berths with a clean week on its own diamond.
Sydney Fullbright’s run-scoring, ground-rule double in the sixth was the difference, as Ocean View rallied past Garden Grove for a 4-3 win.
The junior right fielder smacked a one-out double to the gap in left-center, scoring Sienna Erskine, who had led off with a single and stole second to get into scoring position.
Garden Grove had battled back from a 3-1 deficit in the fifth, a two-run double by Kayden Connaty tying the score.
“Our team has always kind of been a team that keeps going even when we’re down, like always play like it’s a 0-0 ballgame,” Fullbright said. “You always want to get that next run, situational hitting. I was confident that as long as we kept our energy good, and as long as we kept supporting our teammates, that we could continue to hit and come back in that game.”
Ocean View (11-5, 3-2), which also beat Katella at home on Wednesday, is one of just two teams in the league to have played five league games so far. Segerstrom (5-12, 2-0) is the only unbeaten team in the league.
Westminster (13-6, 4-1) is in second place, while the Seahawks dealt Garden Grove (11-5, 2-2) a key defeat to keep themselves firmly within the playoff picture. Ocean View’s league losses came against Segerstrom and Westminster.
Just two years removed from winning the CIF Southern Section Division 5 title over Upland Western Christian, several members of that team are still around and looking for another chance at postseason glory.
Erskine, the starting second baseman on that title-winning team, was a catalyst for the Seahawks against the Argonauts. She had lead-off singles in the fourth and sixth innings, stealing second base within the next at-bat both times before coming around to score.
In the fourth, it was a double by third baseman Kaylah Arteaga that would get the job done. A single by first baseman MacKenna King later in the inning provided the 3-1 advantage.
“I’m looking forward to hopefully getting back to CIF,” Erskine said. “We didn’t make it last year, so I’m definitely trying to get my team there one step at a time, one hit at a time, one pitch at a time.”
A double by left fielder Emily Mayorga gave Ocean View its first run in the third inning, center fielder Kaya Collado coming home after reaching on a bunt single.
Kayla Delgado picked up the victory for Ocean View. She limited the damage to three runs, despite allowing nine hits. She struck out seven.
“I knew we were coming [against] a pretty good team,” Ocean View coach Keala Cordeiro said of the Argonauts. “I’ve heard a lot about them, that they have some good hitters and some good fielders, but Kayla came out today and really pitched a good game.
“I kind of did that because I know they’ve seen [Kaitlyn Knobbe], our second pitcher, a lot from last year, so I wanted to give Kayla a chance to see. Our hitters came through when we needed it the most, especially with runners on.”
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