Youth softball: Mighty Rippers take crown

Tony Altobelli

CORONA DEL MAR - One team was pushing for one last miracle. The

other was just trying to hang on for dear life.

When it was over, the Mighty Rippers managed to hang on for a 7-6 win in

the Pacific Coast Bobby Sox girls under-12 division championship game

Saturday at Bonita Creek Park, leaving the Diamonds one miracle short.

“The kids are in heaven right now,” an exuberant Rippers Coach Ron Briggs

said. “It’s got to be the greatest feeling for them. At the beginning of

the year, hardly any of them could even catch the ball and to see them

get this far is awesome.”

For the Diamonds, who finished the regular season in seventh place, just

making it to the big game was an accomplishment in itself.

“It sure was a much different season than it was at the beginning,”

Diamonds Coach Jim Lineback said. “We went down, but we went down

swinging.”

The Diamonds jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning

when Megan McCullough was hit by a pitch. She stole second and went to

third and home on a couple of wild pitches.

The lead would be short-lived, however, as the Rippers, who finished

second during the regular season, answered with four runs in the third

inning.

Tori Reed, Natalie Weese, Jordan Smith and Darci Pennington each scored

in that third inning, giving the Rippers a 4-1 lead.

The lead grew to 6-1 when Ronni Briggs and Ashley Chandler each crossed

the plate.

But the Diamonds refused to quit. Bridget Gleason and Jaclyn Lineback

managed to cruise the bases and score, cutting the lead to 6-3.

The Diamonds’ bats continued to sparkle in the sixth. Hits by Laura

Locke, Hilary Ockey and Annika Overby produced three big runs, tying the

game.

It might have been 7-6 Diamonds, if not for the solid defensive work by

Carrie Widder in left field, Pennington at shortstop and Katelin

Patterson behind the plate.

Widder recovered fast after misplaying a ball in left, fired a strike to

Pennington, who gunned a bullet to Patterson at the plate in time to nail

a Diamond runner trying to score.

“That play really turned out to be a big play,” the elder Briggs said.

The score was tied, but the Rippers regained the lead in the seventh.

Singles by Pennington, Briggs and Patterson loaded the bases. With one

out, Widder drove in Pennington with the go-ahead run on a fielder’s

choice to the shortstop.

The Diamonds tried to respond in the bottom of the seventh when Katlyn

Czisny ripped a double to center field, but the Rippers held on to win

the game.

“We finished second in the regular season, but I told the kids that

didn’t matter,” Briggs said. “It doesn’t matter how we finished the

regular season. All that mattered was how we finished in the playoffs and

we finished on top.”