Prep softball: CdM, Mesa primed for CIF Playoffs
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.
All the latest on Orange County from Orange County.
Get our free TimesOC newsletter.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Daily Pilot.