Late Home Runs Help Sonora Beat Laguna Hills

Laguna Hills was ranked fifth and Sonora sixth in the Southern Section Division III poll a week ago. Friday they begrudgingly played each other in the first round of the section’s softball playoffs, the section’s only matchup featuring two teams with 20 victories.

Dawn Ramynke homered in the sixth inning and Andee Lindgren homered in the seventh to give Sonora its first playoff victory since 1985, 4-1, at Laguna Hills.

Neither team thought it deserved such a tough first-round opponent. Both lost games last week, but Laguna Hills dropped to sixth in the final section poll--which largely determines the pairings bracket--and Sonora inexplicably dropped from the top 10.

“We were upset at the beginning of the week, but we practiced hard and played like we practiced,” said Ramynke, a junior catcher who launched the first pitch of the sixth inning deep into left field.

Ramynke’s homer gave the Raiders a 2-1 lead. “I don’t think I’ve ever hit a ball that hard--it was a bomb,” she said. “I knew it was gone.”

After denying Laguna Hills a tying score in the bottom of the sixth--the Hawks loaded the bases--the Raiders got insurance in the seventh. Jennifer Link attempted to steal second and Lindgren hit a bouncer where the second baseman had been standing and split the outfielders. Lindgren scored with a head-first slide on the two-run homer.

That ended the Hawks’ season at 21-6-2 and provided Sonora (22-7) a victory over the county’s winningest pitcher, Melissa Creeger (20-3), whose first-inning triple drove home Laguna Hills’ run.

Lindgren (12-4) retired the side in order only once, in the seventh inning. She pitched a four-hitter and struck out seven, including three with runners at third base.

In other Division III games:

Brea Olinda 1, Garden Grove 0 (11)--Tiala Tagaloa’s bases-loaded single scored Marjalena Santos for Brea Olinda (19-7-1). Santos, a freshman, tripled and losing pitcher Nuvia Marti (6-1) walked the next two batters. Marti allowed six hits and struck out 10; Tiffany Whitton pitched a one-hitter and struck out 17 to snap a 12-game winning streak by the Argonauts (18-11-1).

Canyon 5, La Habra 3--Kim Jents had a two-run single in the first inning as Canyon (18-12-1) outlasted La Habra (14-14).

Pacifica 11, Lakewood St. Joseph 2--Toria Auelua had three hits and scored three runs. Top-seeded Pacifica (20-8) will play at Canyon.

Santa Margarita 2, Covina Charter Oak 1--Brittany Mynsberge drove home Danni Manning in the sixth inning as the wild-card Eagles (15-11-1) upset second-seeded Charter Oak (21-6).

Valencia 2, Hacienda Heights Wilson 0 (15)--Krystal Zavala and Rebecca Robinson had RBIs, and Michelle Whiteman (15-8) went the distance for Valencia (19-11-1).