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Prep softball: CdM, Mesa primed for CIF Playoffs

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Bryce Alderton

Corona del Mar High joins Costa Mesa as a road underdog when the

CIF Southern Section Division IV softball playoffs open this week. But

the Sea Kings have already experienced a minor victory after tying the

Mustangs for second place in the Pacific Coast League.

By virtue of a coin-flip won by Costa Mesa (17-9) over CdM (10-9),

after both finished 7-3 in league, the Mustangs, who finished the regular

season winning nine of 11 games, won a first-round date with host Western

(17-4) Friday at 3:15 p.m. Western won the Orange League for the tenth

time in the last 18 years. The Pioneers boast a 14-game winning streak

and have won 17 of 18 after opening 0-3.

CdM visits Rancho Alamitos, the No. 3 representative from the Garden

Grove League, in a wild-card game Wednesday at 3:15. If victorious, CdM

would advance to play third-seeded Orange Lutheran, champion of the

Olympic League, in Friday’s first round.

If Costa Mesa defeats Western Friday, the Mustangs would play either

No. 4-seeded St. Paul or the winner of Wednesday’s wild-card clash

between Gladstone and Ocean View.

The Mustangs, however, have never won a playoff game.

Coach Rick Buonarigo’s Costa Mesa lineup features junior shortstop Ann

Marie Topps, a second-team All-CIF Division IV selection last year. This

season, Topps has amassed a team-leading six home runs, 21 runs, 28 RBIs

and 36 hits, including eight doubles.

Sophomore outfielder Uyen Mai swiped a team-leading 27 bases in 28

attempts. Mai scored 18 runs and collected 18 hits. Sophomore Jane-E

Yamamoto had 15 RBIs and hit four home runs, while collecting 22 hits.

The Mustangs are 103 for 113 in stolen-base attempts this season.

Mesa senior pitcher Tess Lindsay went 17-9, finishing the regular

season with 63 strikeouts and 49 walks in 167 innings. She had four

shutouts and a 1.13 ERA (0.79 against PCL foes).

Costa Mesa lost a Division IV wild-card game to Bishop Montgomery last

season.

Costa Mesa made the playoffs in 2000 for the first time since 1996.

Western freshman pitcher Jennifer McElroy went 17-4 with a 0.66 ERA,

201 strikeouts, 25 walks and one save in 135 innings. Sophomore shortstop

Tiffany White batted .453 with seven home runs, 14 RBIs and scored 17

runs for the Pioneers.

Rancho Alamitos (14-11), which finished third in the Garden Grove

League, won its final two regular-season games by a combined 16-0 margin.

Corona del Mar makes its second consecutive playoff appearance in only

the third year since varsity softball returned from a brief hiatus.

Last year, the Sea Kings fell to Workman, 3-2, in the first round.

The Sea Kings are led by junior pitcher Alissa Zoelle, who is 6-4 with

a 2.15 ERA, 32 strikeouts and 10 walks in 65 innings in the circle.

Junior Amy Tyson shared pitching duties with Zoelle this spring, but

is out for the season after sustaining a broken nose and a concussion

when hit by a line-drive comebacker late in the league season.

Zoelle will start Wednesday against Rancho Alamitos, said CdM Coach Ed

Mejia, a former assistant who took over in the team’s second league game,

after first-year coach Yogi Johnson resigned for medical reasons.

“If (Zoelle) is on, we’re going to have a great game because my girls

will pick her up defensively and offensively,” Mejia said. “As long as

the girls have fun, we’ll do pretty well. I told them to approach it as

league game and go from there.”

CdM junior Lauren Loe scored eight runs, belted two home runs,

collected seven RBIs, and hit .450. Sophomore Kianna Jaye scored eight

runs, hit two home runs, drove in five RBIs and hit .383 in the regular

season.

Tyson hit .463 with one homer and six RBIs before being sidelined.

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