Community College Softball : Rancho Santiago Wins Regional

SAN MARCOS —  Joyce Lyman had her sinkerball working to perfection as she led Rancho Santiago to a 4-0 victory over Saddleback in Sunday’s championship game of the Southern California softball regionals.

It was Rancho Santiago’s third straight victory in the Southern Regional. The last two years, the Dons have gone on to win the state championship.

By finishing second, Saddleback also qualified for next week’s state tournament. That was a big accomplishment, considering the Gauchos had to defeat the state’s No. 1-ranked team, Palomar, 7-1, in a semifinal game.

“No question we got what we wanted,” Saddleback Coach Pete Morris said. The same could be said for Rancho Santiago.

The Dons came into this tournament seeded No. 3 behind Palomar and Fullerton. Fullerton was eliminated Saturday and Rancho Santiago helped eliminate Palomar, beating the Comets, 2-0, in a winners’ bracket game Sunday.

Lyman, was outstanding in that game, limiting Palomar to two hits. Then she rested for a couple of hours before returning to the mound to befuddle Saddleback. She retired the first 17 batters she faced before yielding a two-out walk to Renee McMillen in the sixth. Kelly Thomas followed with a bunt single.

Lyman’s final numbers for the tournament were impressive: 23 innings, 7 hits allowed, and no runs. She struck out only two and relied on her sinker most of the day, getting 15 ground-ball outs.

Rancho Santiago (42-7) scored one run in the second inning on a walk, a sacrifice, a wild pitch and an error and got two more in the third on a two-run homer by Lisa Pedersen. Debbie Kerr scored on a passed ball in the seventh.