Softball: Mesa goes to CIF

Joseph Boo

COSTA MESA - Costa Mesa High’s softball team could just smell the

CIF Southern Section Division IV playoffs, and it was very similar to

apples.

After Mesa wrapped up a 3-0 Pacific Coast League victory over Corona del

Mar at TeWinkle Park Wednesday, the five senior Mustangs in uniform broke

out the bubbly, in this case sparkling apple cider, to celebrate their

first trip to CIF in their varsity career. Pairings will be announced

Monday.

This is Mesa’s first trip to the CIF playoffs since 1996. But after an

up-and-down season, the Mustangs had to beat CdM to clinch third place

and the final automatic playoff spot from the PCL. But a Mesa loss meant

a one-game rematch would determine the playoff team. So there was a lot

of anxiety released when the Mustangs finally got that bottle cap loose

after the game.

“We were really pumped up all week long,” Mesa starting pitcher Brooke

Shanley said. “We were all really pumped up during the warmup and we were

pumped during the game. We didn’t want to come back and play them the

next day.”

It was a game that had little room for mistakes as both Shanley and CdM

pitcher Alissa Zoelle were in top form. Zoelle was perfect for the first

three innings, using 23 pitches to dispatch the Mustangs in order.

The Mustangs (9-11, 6-4 in league) finally mustered one hit in the fourth

and they made it count. Mesa’s Kelly Daub bunted the ball down the

first-base line and was barely safe. The next hitter, Lacey Ferris, laid

a bunt down the third-base line and was out at first. Daub went to second

on the play, but she didn’t stop there. She ran to third and slid in as

the throw came in. The throw got away, and Daub came in for the game’s

first run.

CdM (7-11, 4-6) found ways to get on base and almost scored in the first.

CdM’s Amy Tyson led off with a single, then ended up on third after a

wild pitch and a fielder’s choice. A batter later, the Sea Kings’ Mijanou

Pham hit a chopper to third and there was no throw to first. With runners

on first and third and one Sea King retired, Shanley got a flyout and

strikeout to get out of the jam.

CdM had three more singles in the game, two from Lauren Jacobson and one

from Casey Bunney. But Bunney, who made it to second on a wild pitch in

the fourth, was the second and last Sea King to reach as far as second

base.

It was still a tense 1-0 game until the sixth, when the Mustangs got two

inside-the-park home runs. The first one was hit by Nicole Spunaugle, who

found the gap between the center and right fielders with a hit that

quickly rolled away from CdM’s two outfielders. Two batters later, Ferris

hit a carbon copy of Spunaugles’ homer in the exact same spot with the

exact same results.

“This was an awesome game,” Costa Mesa Coach Sharon Uhl said. “Hitting,

defense, pitching, that was the best we played all year. They really came

through.”

With the loss, CdM’s first softball season in three years came to an end,

with a young team threatening for a berth in the playoffs. Pham, a

junior, is the oldest on the team.

“I though we might have a chance (to make the playoffs before the

season),” CdM Coach Terry Christiano said. “But our dream didn’t come

true. Next year though, when we get more players, more competitive

players, next year will be different.”

But for now, this was Mesa’s moment. For the six seniors (Shanley, Daub,

Ferris, Spunaugle, Kaite Chapman and Michelle Nguyen), it was their last

chance.

“This was the biggest game for the seniors,” Uhl said. “It’s their last

league game of their career, and they wanted it badly. They wanted that

win.”

PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE

Costa Mesa 3, Corona del Mar 0

Corona del Mar 000 000 0 - 0 4 1

Costa Mesa 000 102 x - 3 3 1

Zoelle and Tyson; Shanley and Watkins. W - Shanley, 8-7. L - Zoelle, 6-4.

HR - Spunaugle (CM), Ferris (CM).